LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (MNA/ITALPRESS) – The opposition and civil society groups in Tunisia will be holding a mass protest on Friday against what they describe as President Kais Saied’s authoritarian rule, and said they would continue escalation and demonstrations, just four days before the presidential election.
Opposition and civil society groups have been voicing concerns about a potentially rigged election, designed to keep President Kais Saied in power. Meanwhile, there is a growing opposition anger against President Kais Saied, whose critics accuse him also of using the judiciary to sideline his opponents. Presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Tunisian court. This was the third prison sentence imposed on Zammel in two weeks. He is one of just two candidates permitted to stand against Saied. Three other high profile opposition figures were barred. Abdessattar Massoudi, Zammel’s lawyer, said that Zammel was sentenced to 12 years in prison by Tunis court on charges of document falsification. Massoudi described the verdict as “unfair and a farce”. Zammel, head of the opposition Azimoun party, has been jailed since last month on charges of falsifying voter signatures on his candidacy paperwork, accusations he described as manufactured by Saied’s government. He has been allowed to continue to stand in the election while jailed. Political tensions in the North African country have risen ahead of the Oct. 6 election since an electoral commission named by Saied disqualified three other prominent candidates last month, amid protests by opposition and civil society groups. Tunisia was the only Arab country to emerge with a peaceful democracy from the 2011 “Arab Spring” protests against autocratic rulers across the Middle East and North Africa. But since being elected in 2019, Saied has gradually amassed greater powers, arguing that he needs them to combat a corrupt elite. He dissolved the elected parliament and began ruling by decree in 2021, a move the opposition described as a coup.(ITALPRESS).
Foto: Agenzia Fotogramma
