TUNIS: A Tunisian court announced on Friday that it has accepted the appeal of a presidential candidate whose initial application was rejected, allowing him to participate in the October 6 election.
Imed Daimi, a former advisor to ex-President Moncef Marzouki, was one of 14 candidates barred by the Tunisian election authority, ISIE, from running.
This decision marks the third time this week that the administrative court has overturned an ISIE ruling barring a candidate. However, the ISIE, which will release the final list of presidential candidates next week, has yet to confirm whether these newly approved candidates will be officially included.
Currently, the electoral authority has approved the candidacies of three candidates, including incumbent President Kais Saied. The administrative court has also granted appeals to former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki, along with Daimi. If these candidates proceed, they will join former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui and businessman Ayachi Zammel in challenging Saied.
Daimi, 54, is the vice president of the Harak opposition party. His party’s exiled leader, former President Marzouki, is a strong critic of Saied. Marzouki, the first president elected after Tunisia’s 2011 uprising, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison last February for allegedly attempting to “provoke disorder” in Tunisia. He also received a four-year sentence in 2021 for threatening state security. Saied has labeled Marzouki an “enemy of Tunisia.”
Saied, who was elected in 2019, orchestrated a significant power grab in 2021 and is now seeking a second term. Many of his political opponents and critics are currently jailed or facing prosecution. Human Rights Watch reported last week that Tunisian authorities have prosecuted, convicted, or imprisoned at least eight individuals for their political activities.
