Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars

This handout picture released by Tunisia's Presidency shows Tunisia's First Lady Ichraf Saied registering to vote at a polling station during the 2024 presidential elections in Tunis on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
1 / 3
This handout picture released by Tunisia's Presidency shows Tunisia's First Lady Ichraf Saied registering to vote at a polling station during the 2024 presidential elections in Tunis on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
2 / 3
Tunisian army soldiers deliver ballot boxes to a polling station in Ariana near Tunis, a day before the presidential election, on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
3 / 3
Poll clerks prepare a polling station in Ariana near Tunis, a day before the presidential election, on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 06 October 2024
Follow

Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars

Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics 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
  • After rising to power in a landslide in 2019, Saied, now 66, led a sweeping power grab that saw him rewrite the constitution

TUNIS: Polls closed Sunday night in Tunisia after voting in a presidential election expected to see incumbent Kais Saied secure another five years in office while his main critics — including one contender — are behind bars.
Three years after Saied staged a sweeping power grab, rights group fear re-election will only further entrench his rule in the country which became the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.
With the ouster of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia prided itself on being the birthplace of those regional revolts against authoritarianism.
But the north African country’s path changed dramatically soon after Saied’s democratic election in 2019.
The power grab by Saied, 66, saw him rewrite the constitution and crack down on dissent, sparking criticism at home and abroad.
In a speech on Thursday, Saied called for a “massive turnout to vote” and usher in what he called an era of “reconstruction.”
The Tunisian electoral board, ISIE, has said about 9.7 million people were eligible to vote, in a country whose population is around 12 million.
By 1:00 p.m. — five hours before the 5,000 polling station closed — only 14 percent of voters had cast ballots, ISIE said.
The board’s spokesman Mohamed Tlili Mansri later said it was expecting around 30 percent turnout. That is roughly the same proportion of people who turned out in 2022 for a widely boycotted referendum on the new constitution.

“I came to support Kais Saied,” 69-year-old Nouri Masmoudi said in the morning. “My whole family is going to vote for him.”
Hosni Abidi, 40, said he feared electoral fraud.
“I don’t want people to choose for me,” he said. “I want to check the box for my candidate myself.”
Tunisia’s electoral board said ahead of the ballot that it would not allow two local independent watchdogs to monitor the vote.
By midday in Bab Jedid, a working-class neighborhood, there were few voters, and most were elderly men.
Saied cast his vote alongside his wife in the affluent Ennasr neighborhood, north of Tunis, in the morning.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has said more than “170 people are detained in Tunisia on political grounds or for exercising their fundamental rights.”
Jailed opposition figures include Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist-inspired opposition party Ennahdha, which dominated political life after the revolution.
Also detained is Abir Moussi, head of the Free Destourian Party, which critics accuse of wanting to bring back the regime that was ousted in 2011.

Heavily indebted Tunisia is grappling with weak economic growth, high inflation and unemployment that has led many Tunisians to join mostly sub-Saharan African migrants that use the country as a jumping-off point to Europe.
“Many fear that a new mandate for Saied will only deepen the country’s socio-economic woes, as well as hasten the regime’s authoritarian drift,” the International Crisis Group think tank said.
Yet, voters were presented with almost no alternative to Saied. ISIE barred 14 hopefuls from standing in the race, citing technicalities.
Wajd Harrar, a 22-year-old student, said that in 2019, while she was too young to vote, “people had chosen a bad president.”
This time, she said, “I have the right to vote and I will give my vote to the least bad candidate.”
Mohamed Aziz, 21, said he was “motivated by the elections because choosing the right person for the next five years is important.”
On Friday, hundreds of people protested in the capital, some holding signs denouncing Saied as a “Pharaoh manipulating the law.”
Standing against him Sunday were former lawmaker Zouhair Maghzaoui, 59, who backed Saied’s power grab in 2021, and Ayachi Zammel, 47, a little-known businessman who has been in jail since his bid was approved by ISIE last month.
Zammel currently faces more than 14 years in prison on accusations of having forged endorsement signatures to enable him to stand in the election.
Voting in Marsa, north of Tunis, Maghzaoui called on Tunisians to “vote in large numbers.”
On Thursday Saied cited “a long war against conspiratorial forces linked to foreign circles,” accusing them of “infiltrating many public services and disrupting hundreds of projects” under his tenure.
Crisis Group said that while Saied “enjoys significant support among the working classes, he has been criticized for failing to resolve the country’s deep economic crisis.”
The electoral board has said preliminary results should come no later than Wednesday.
 

 


Japanese prime minister praises Saudi Arabia’s role in addressing the Gaza crisis

Japanese prime minister praises Saudi Arabia’s role in addressing the Gaza crisis
Updated 14 sec ago
Follow

Japanese prime minister praises Saudi Arabia’s role in addressing the Gaza crisis

Japanese prime minister praises Saudi Arabia’s role in addressing the Gaza crisis
  • PM Ishiba made the remarks during a telephone summit with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
  • Ishiba stated that he would like to strengthen the strategic partnership between Japan and Saudi Arabia

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hailed “Saudi Arabia’s leadership on Gaza” and expressed his determination to continue working with the Kingdom to bring stability to the Middle East.

Ishiba made the remarks during a telephone summit with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, during which he expressed his hope that Saudi Arabia would continue to play a leading role in stabilizing the global oil market.

The Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said the crown prince expressed his wish to deepen cooperation with Japan in various fields, including politics, economics, security, and potentially technology transfer and cultural exchange.

Ishiba said he would like Japan and Saudi Arabia to expand cooperation to areas including clean energy, advanced technology, and entertainment.

With 2025 marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Ishiba reiterated his commitment to peace and stability in the region. He stated that he would like to strengthen the strategic partnership between Japan and Saudi Arabia and work even more closely together to promote these values. The crown prince also affirmed his commitment to these goals, stating that Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to its relations with Japan and welcomes further cooperation.

The Foreign Ministry added that both leaders shared their concerns about conflicts in the Middle East and the need for all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint. Ishiba said he appreciated Saudi Arabia’s leadership on Gaza, and the two leaders agreed to continue working closely together to achieve stability in the Middle East.


Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border
Updated 1 min 21 sec ago
Follow

Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

DAMASCUS: An Israeli strike hit a Syrian town near the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, less than a week after deadly strikes on the same area.
“An Israeli aggression targeted the industrial zone in Al-Qusayr” in Homs province, the official SANA news agency said. There was no immediate news of casualties or damage.

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters including from Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has intensified its strikes on Syria since it launched its war on Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on the strikes, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.


Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391
Updated 56 min 37 sec ago
Follow

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391
  • The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours

GAZA STRIP: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed in the year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.


Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands
Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands
  • At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents
  • Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps

ATHENS: Some islands in the southeast of the Aegean sea, including Rhodes, are seeing an increase in migrants arriving by boat from Turkiye, Greek migration and asylum minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said Tuesday.
“The southeast of the Aegean and the island of Rhodes are experiencing migratory pressure right now,” he said on public television station ERT, though he said the increase does not appear to be linked to rising tensions in the Middle East.
At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents and local authorities.
According to local media Rodiaki, more than 700 migrants arrived during the last week of October.
Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps on the mainland or in other islands.
Previously, Aegean islands further north such as Lesbos and Samos had received the brunt of migrants crossing from Turkish shores.
Crete, which has likewise seen an increase in arrivals from Libya, also needs to build facilities to process migrants.
Greece has seen a 25 percent increase this year in the number of people fleeing war and poverty, with a 30 percent increase alone to Rhodes and the south-east Aegean, according to the Migration Ministry.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 48,158 arrivals have been recorded so far in 2024, of which around 42,000 arrived by boat and 6,000 by crossing the land frontier with Turkiye.
“The camps on the islands have an occupancy rate of 100 percent. But on the mainland they are only 55 percent full, which provides a margin in the event of an increase in arrivals on the islands,” Panagiotopoulos said.


Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister
Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister
  • Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF

PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army-backed government on Tuesday accused neighboring Chad of supplying arms to rebel militias, likely referring to the paramilitary forces it is battling.
The northeast African country has been engulfed by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the regular army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Justice minister Muawiya Osman said Burhan’s administration had lodged the complaint against Chad at the African Union.
Speaking to reporters, including AFP, Osman said the government demanded compensation and accused Chad of “supplying arms to rebel militias” and causing “harm to Sudanese citizens.”
“We will present evidence to the relevant authorities,” he added from Port Sudan, where Burhan relocated after fighting spread to the capital, Khartoum.
Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF.
“We do not support any of the factions that are fighting on Sudanese territory — we are in favor of peace,” foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said at the time.
The United Nations has been using the Adre border crossing between the two countries to deliver humanitarian aid.
Sudan had initially agreed to keep the crossing open for three months, a period set to expire on November 15. Authorities in Khartoum have yet to decide whether to extend the arrangement.
The Sudanese war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country’s borders.