CIVICUS discusses Tunisia’s recent presidential election with Siwar Gmati of IWatch, a Tunisian civil society organisation (CSO) and CIVICUS Digital Democracy Initiative partner. IWatch focuses on fighting corruption and promoting transparency in Tunisia.
On 6 October, incumbent President Kais Saied was re-elected with close to 91 per cent of the vote, but on a very low turnout of 28.8 per cent. Several parties boycotted the election, saying it couldn’t be trusted to be free and fair. One prominent opposition figure was jailed and others were banned from standing, with the Saied-appointed electoral commission defying court orders to reinstate them.