Tunisia: President Kais Saied re-elected with a landslide score of 90.7%

Outgoing President Kais Saied, accused by civil society of “authoritarian drift”, was re-elected with an overwhelming majority of 90.7% in Tunisia, in a poll on Sunday that was “locked” in advance and marked by a record abstention rate.

M. Saied won the votes of just over 2.4 million voters out of 9.7 million registered, the electoral authority Isie announced on Monday.

Turnout was 28.8 percent, the lowest since the North African country of 12 million people, the cradle of the Arab Spring, became democratic in 2011 after the overthrow of dictator Ben Ali.

The vote was “locked in” for a “landmark” victory for Mr. Saied, predicted expert Michaël Ayari of the International Crisis Group.

Only two contenders — second-stringers — were allowed to run out of 17 initially, after Mr. Saied's strongest rivals were eliminated.

Ayachi Zammel, a liberal industrialist, 47, won only 7.35% of the vote and Zouhair Maghzaoui, a former MP for the pan-Arab left, got only 1.97%.

Mounir, 65, a resident of Tunis who voted enthusiastically for Mr Saied, summed up Tunisians' main expectations: “lower prices, a good education and health system, and security”.

Conversely, Houcine, 63, did not vote: “I have no more confidence and I am desperate”.

Mr. Saied, 66, “maintains his electoral base,” Tunisian analyst Hatem Nafti told AFP, even though he lost more than 300,000 votes compared to 2019, when this constitutional law teacher, a novice in politics, became president to everyone's surprise with 73% of the vote and a turnout of 58%.

After the broadcast on Sunday evening of estimates giving him a large victory, several hundred of his supporters came down to cheer him on the main avenue of Tunis, honking horns and singing patriotic songs.

But the young people who were very mobilized five years ago, have deserted the ballot boxes, with 6% of voters in the age group between 18 and 35, according to figures given Sunday by Isie, compared to a participation of 65% among 36-60 year-olds.

– “Tainted legitimacy” –

“The legitimacy of the election is tarnished,” said Mr. Nafti, stressing that “candidates who could overshadow Mr. Saied were systematically excluded.”

The submission of candidacies was similar to an obstacle course with a high number of required sponsorships, the imprisonment of known potential candidates, and the ousting by the ISIE of competitors who were truly dangerous to Mr. Saied.

Tunisian and foreign NGOs denounced an ISIE “having lost its independence” and a process “skewed in favor of Mr. Saied.”

Tunisians opposed to President Kais Saied during a demonstration in Tunis on October 4, 2024 © AFP – FETHI BELAID

The European Union said it had “taken note” of the criticisms of various NGOs and opponents “concerning the integrity of the electoral process” and “various measures deemed detrimental to the democratic requirements of credibility” of the vote.

Mr Zammel was unable to campaign because he has been in prison since early September and has already been sentenced three times to more than 14 years in prison for alleged falsification of endorsements.

Mr Maghzaoui, aligned with Mr Saied's sovereignist ideology, was penalized by his support for the president's coup in July 2021 when he seized full powers to, he said, restore order.

The operation was widely applauded by a population tired of parliamentary bickering and economic difficulties, which Mr. Saied blamed on “corrupt politicians” financed by “foreign powers”, who dominated the decade of democracy, targeting in particular the Islamo-conservative Ennahdha movement.

But instead of boosting growth to combat endemic unemployment that fuels emigration flows to Europe, the president has devoted his energy, according to the opposition and NGOs, to repressing civil society in an “authoritarian drift”.

Since spring 2023, more than twenty opponents including Ennahdha leader Rached Ghannouchi and the nostalgic passionnaria of the Ben Ali era, Abir Moussi, have been imprisoned.

In recent months, trade unionists, lawyers, political columnists and defenders of migrants' rights have also found themselves in prison.

Hatem Nafti fears a new hardening of power after “the coronation of Mr. Saied” who took up his favorite slogans on Sunday, announcing in a martial tone, wanting to “continue the 2011 Revolution” to build “a country cleansed of the corrupt and the plots”.

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