Tunisian President Kais Saied announced on Friday that he will seek another term in the upcoming October 6 elections. Saied stated that his candidacy aims “to continue the national liberation struggle” in a video posted on the presidency’s Facebook page. Opposition parties accuse Saied’s government of pressuring the judiciary to crack down on his rivals ahead of the 2024 elections, allegedly to secure his re-election.
On the same day as Saied’s announcement, a court sentenced opposition leader Lotfi Mraihi to eight months in prison for vote buying. The court also banned Mraihi, the Republican Union Party leader and a prominent critic of Saied, from running for president for life. Opposition leaders argue that fair elections are impossible without the release of imprisoned politicians and unpressured media.
Elected in 2019, Saied dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, a move the opposition calls a coup. Saied defends his actions as legal and necessary to combat years of political corruption.
