Kaïs Saïed will have only two contenders in Tunisia’s presidential elections slated for October 6, 2024. Only three candidates, including Kaïs Saïed, were on the preliminary list released by the Electoral Body. Although there were approximately one hundred candidates at the beginning of the application process, fourteen more were dismissed for incomplete applications.
In the 2019 presidential election in Tunisia, there were 26 candidates. For 2024, there are likely to be just three, including the current President, who is seeking another term. A figure that speaks volumes about the tense context of the electoral period, when many potential candidates threw in the towel in the face of the plethora of administrative obstacles to file their applications.
During the unveiling of the preliminary presidential candidates’ list on Saturday night, the Electoral Body announced that some candidates did not fulfill the requirements for sponsorship, which include obtaining the renowned 10,000 voter signatures needed to submit an application.
The Instance acknowledged that, in order to prevent sponsorship fabrication, the mechanism for acquiring sponsorships was far more restricted and closely watched than it was in 2019. For a significant portion of the opposition, this is primarily a covert effort to eliminate any possible competitors for Kaïs Saïed.
Zouheir Maghzaoui, the leader of the left-wing group Le Mouvement du Peuple and a former MP in 2014 and 2019, is one of the two candidates that have been shortlisted. The president of the Azimoun party, an engineer named Ayachi Zammel, a former MP, is standing against him. Rejected candidates have the option to file an appeal with the administrative court. On September 4, a fresh definitive list will be revealed.