Tunisia Votes in Presidential Election
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Incumbent Kais Saied looks set to win another term in office in Sunday’s presidential election in Tunisia featuring just two opposition candidates: a former lawmaker who supported Saied’s 2021 power grab and a businessman who was recently jailed.
Tunisia’s election commission barred 14 hopefuls from running during a campaign season marred by a crackdown on dissent, AFP reported.
Tunisia holds a presidential election Sunday with no real opposition to incumbent Kais Saied, widely tipped to win as his most prominent critics, including a key contender, are behind bars.
Three years after a sweeping power grab by Saied, the election is seen as a closing chapter in Tunisia's experiment with democracy.
The North African country had prided itself for more than a decade for being the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings against dictatorship.
Polling stations open at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) and close at 6:00 pm (1700 GMT). Preliminary results should come no later than Wednesday but may be known earlier, according to ISIE, the electoral board.
In the lead-up to polling day, there have been no campaign rallies or public debates -- and nearly all of the campaign posters in city streets have been of Saied.
With little hope for change in a country mired in economic crisis, the mood among much of the electorate has been one of resignation.
