Tunisia's Kais Saied wins landslide reelection

TUNIS, Tunisia — 

President Kais Saied won a landslide triumph successful Tunisia's predetermination Monday, keeping his grip connected powerfulness aft a archetypal word successful which opponents were imprisoned and the country's institutions overhauled to springiness him much authority.

The North African country's Independent High Authority for Elections said Saied received 90.7% of the vote, a time aft exit polls showed him with an insurmountable pb successful the state known arsenic the birthplace of the Arab Spring much than a decennary ago.

"We're going to cleanse the state of each the corrupt and schemers," the 66-year-old populist said successful a code astatine run headquarters. He pledged to support Tunisia against threats overseas and domestic.

That raised alarm among the president's critics including University of Tunis instrumentality prof Sghayer Zakraoui, who said Tunisian authorities were erstwhile again astir "the implicit powerfulness of a azygous antheral who places himself supra everyone other and believes himself to beryllium invested with a messianic message."

Zakraoui said the predetermination results were reminiscent of Tunisia nether President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who ruled for much than 20 years earlier becoming the archetypal dictator toppled successful the Arab Spring uprisings. Saied received a larger ballot stock than Ben Ali did successful 2009, 2 years earlier fleeing the state amid protests.

The closest challenger, businessman Ayachi Zammel, won 7.4% of the ballot aft sitting successful situation for the bulk of the run portion facing aggregate sentences for election-related crimes.

Yet Saied's triumph was marred by debased elector turnout. Election officials reported 28.8% of voters participated connected Oct. 6 — a importantly smaller showing than successful the archetypal circular of the country's 2 different post-Arab Spring elections and an denotation of apathy plaguing the country's 9.7 cardinal eligible voters.

Saied's astir salient challengers — imprisoned since past twelvemonth — were prevented from running, and lesser-known candidates were jailed oregon kept disconnected the ballot. Opposition parties boycotted the contest, calling it a sham amid Tunisia's deteriorating governmental clime and authoritarian drift.

Over the weekend, determination was small motion of an predetermination underway successful Tunisia isolated from an anti-Saied protestation connected Friday and celebrations successful the superior connected Sunday evening.

"He volition re-enter bureau undermined alternatively than empowered by these elections," Tarek Megerisi, a elder argumentation chap astatine the European Council connected Foreign Relations, wrote connected X.

Saied's critics pledged to support opposing his rule.

"It's imaginable that aft 20 years our kids volition protestation connected Avenue Habib Bourguiba to archer him to get out," said Amri Sofien, a freelance filmmaker, referring to the capital's main thoroughfare. "There is nary anticipation successful this country."

Such despair is simply a acold outcry from the Tunisia of 2011, erstwhile protesters took to the streets demanding "bread, state and dignity," ousted the president and paved the mode for the country's modulation into a multiparty democracy.

Tunisia successful the pursuing years enshrined a caller constitution, created a Truth and Dignity Commission to bring justness to citizens tortured nether the erstwhile authorities and saw its starring civilian nine groups triumph the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering governmental compromise.

But its caller leaders were incapable to buoy the country's flailing system and rapidly became unpopular amid changeless governmental infighting and episodes of coercion and governmental violence.

Against that backdrop, Saied — past a governmental outsider — won his archetypal word successful 2019 promising to combat corruption. To the restitution of his supporters, successful 2021 helium declared a authorities of emergency, suspended parliament and rewrote the constitution to consolidate the powerfulness of the presidency — a bid of actions his critics likened to a coup.

Tunisians successful a referendum approved the president's projected constitution a twelvemonth later, though elector turnout plummeted.

Authorities subsequently began to unleash a question of repression connected the once-vibrant civilian society. In 2023, immoderate of Saied's astir salient opponents from crossed the governmental spectrum were thrown successful prison, including right-wing person Abir Moussi and Islamist Rached Ghannouchi, the co-founder of the enactment Ennahda and erstwhile talker of Tunisia's parliament.

Dozens of others were imprisoned connected charges including inciting disorder, undermining authorities information and violating a arguable anti-fake quality instrumentality critics accidental has been utilized to stifle dissent.

The gait of the arrests picked up earlier this year, erstwhile authorities began targeting further lawyers, journalists, activists, migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and the erstwhile caput of the post-Arab Spring Truth and Dignity Commission.

"The authorities seemed to spot subversion everywhere," said Michael Ayari, elder expert for Algeria & Tunisia astatine the International Crisis Group.

Dozens of candidates had expressed involvement successful challenging the president, and 17 submitted preliminary paperwork to tally successful Sunday's race. However, members of the predetermination committee approved lone three.

The relation of the committee and its members, each of them appointed by the president nether his caller constitution, came nether scrutiny. They defied tribunal rulings ordering them to reinstate 3 candidates they had rejected. The parliament subsequently passed a instrumentality stripping powerfulness from the administrative courts.

Such moves sparked planetary concern, including from Europe, which relies connected concern with Tunisia to constabulary the cardinal Mediterranean, wherever migrants effort to transverse successful from North Africa to Europe.

European Commission Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said Monday the EU "takes enactment of the presumption expressed by galore Tunisian societal and governmental actors regarding the integrity of the electoral process."