Tunisia’s main union denounces “dangerous violation” of law by electoral commission

September 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Tunisia’s main trade union, the General Union of Tunisian Labour (UGTT), on Tuesday denounced a “dangerous violation” of the law by the country’s electoral commission following the exclusion of three candidates from the presidential elections scheduled for 6 October.

The Independent Higher Election Authority (ISIE) announced on Monday that only three candidates, including the current president, Kais Saied, will be able to run in the elections, while three other candidates have been excluded: Abdellatif Mekki, former leader of the conservative Islamic movement Ennahda, Mondher Zenaïdi, who was a minister under Ben Ali, and Imed Daimi, advisor to former president Moncef Marzuki, also close to Ennahda.

The list announced by ISIE includes only three candidates: Saied, 66, Zouhair Maghzaoui, 59, a former left-wing MP, and Ayachi Zammel, 43, a little-known political figure.

The UGTT has thus described the decision of the body as “illegal” and has branded it as “dangerous” because it considers that it responds to political motives and will influence the electoral results in advance, as it has denounced in a statement in which it has assured that the decision of the commission constitutes “a confirmation of the absence of the appropriate climate and the necessary conditions for democratic, plural, transparent and fair elections.”

“We warn that such decisions perpetuate the unilateral and authoritarian approach and only increase isolation and tension. (…) We condemn the restrictive measures adopted by the commission,” the text states.

Over the weekend, dozens of non-governmental organisations and hundreds of personalities in the African country called on ISIE to respect the ruling of a court that had previously ruled in favour of the reinstatement of the three candidates now eliminated.