Tunisia had for years been hailed as the one relative success story of the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings for introducing a aggressive, although flawed, democracy following a long time of autocratic rule.
Nonetheless, rights teams now say Saied, in energy since 2019, has undone lots of these democratic features whereas eradicating institutional and authorized checks on his energy. Saied, 66, has rejected criticism of his actions, saying he’s preventing a corrupt elite and traitors, and that he won’t be a dictator.
Senior figures from the most important events, which largely oppose Saied, have been imprisoned on numerous expenses over the previous yr and people events haven’t publicly backed any of the three candidates on Sunday’s poll. Different opponents have been barred from operating.
“The scene is shameful. Journalists and opponents in jail, together with one presidential candidate”. mentioned Wael, a financial institution worker in Tunis, who gave solely his first identify.
