On October 6th, Tunisians went to the polls for the first presidential elections since a new constitution was adopted in 2022. Tunisia’s highest electoral body, the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) declared victory for incumbent president Kais Saied with 90.69% of the vote, citing a participation rate of 28%, the lowest rate in a presidential election since the revolution in 2011. The election period was marked by violations of human rights and attacks on civic space, raising doubts as to whether the election was held in a fair and free environment.  

The Tunisian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, the right to vote, and judicial independence. Tunisia is a state party to multiple relevant human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), which are binding on Tunisia and mandate the protection of civic space. Both of these treaties provide for the freedom of expression and the right to receive and impart information. These international instruments also emphasize the necessity of judicial independence free from any influence. The right to participate in one’s government also guarantees the protection of civic space so that the electorate can effectively exercise its right to vote. The crackdown on civic space and infringement on the independence of the judiciary violates both domestic and international human rights law. 

Repressed Electoral Environment

In the lead-up to the election, Saied’s government clamped down on civic space and potential avenues of opposition. Despite a late announcement of the electoral calendar, several individuals signaled interest in running for president. Fielding several candidates would have raised the possibility of a split-vote to force a second-round and potentially allow the opposition to consolidate around one figure. Articles 40 and 42 of the Tunisian Electoral Law imposed strenuous requirements on filing for candidacy, which created many grounds for disqualification on technical violations of the Electoral law. Tunisia’s highest electoral body, the Instance Supérieure Indépendante pour les Élections (ISIE), disqualified 14 out of 17 total candidates on the basis of these requirements. In addition, several of the most high-profile potential candidates were imprisoned under dubious charges, including prominent leaders of opposition parties. Of the two candidates that were allowed to run against Saied, one of them was arrested just weeks before the election and eventually sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Judicial Independence Compromised

In late August, the Administrative Court restored three of the candidates that the ISIE had initially disqualified. The candidates– Imad Daimi, Mondher Zenaidi, and Abdellatif Mekki– succeeded in appealing the ISIE’s decision to disqualify them from the ballot. Although this decision came as a surprise to some, commentators immediately called on the ISIE to respect the decision of the Administrative Court and hailed it as an example of judicial resistance to Saied’s autocratic rule. In a press briefing held shortly afterward, the ISIE rejected the decision by the Administrative Court, saying that the court had failed to communicate the ruling to the ISIE within 48 hours, an accusation that was immediately denied by the Administrative Court. Soon after, the Tunisian Parliament fast-tracked a bill to strip the Administrative Court of jurisdiction over all election-related disputes, which was adopted just days before the election. Election-related disputes are now channeled into the Court of Appeals, which is widely viewed as controlled by Saied and his allies.

Tunisian Civic Space Hollowed Out

In addition to disqualifying the formal opposition from running against him, President Saied has also cracked down on civic space, worsening a trend that saw Tunisian civic space go from “Obstructed” to “Repressed” in the CIVICUS Monitor rating on global civic space trend. Once abuzz with political discussion (famously represented by the presidential debate held in 2019), the Tunisian political environment this time was characterized by a conspicuous lack of political discourse. By the time of the election, at least five journalists and media figures were serving prison sentences as a direct consequence of their media work. Attacks on journalists have seen a sharp increase in recent years without being addressed by the government, and journalists’ credentials have been revoked on vague grounds. The news platform Jeune Afrique, which featured a cover story summarizing Saied’s presidency, was banned from Tunisia following the publication of its September issue. Mass protests that were held in the capital in the lead-up to the election resulted in the arrests of hundreds of people. Those affiliated with the main opposition party were arrested and brought before the judicial anti-terrorism unit. The ISIE also denied accreditation to some CSOs to observe the elections, accusing them of receiving foreign funding, and sent a formal allegation to the public prosecutor against I-Watch and Mourakiboun, two CSOs who have historically observed elections.

The Tunisian Government has a legal obligation to guarantee an enabling civic space in Tunisia and ensure judicial independence. We join other civil society organizations and partners in the region in calling for dropping of criminal charges brought against activists and the release of political prisoners and journalists. All allegations of human rights violations must be investigated, and the government must guarantee non-repetition. Other international organizations, such as the African Union and the United Nations, should investigate and monitor to ensure that Tunisia is fulfilling its obligations under international human rights law. The international community should leverage its relationship with Tunisia to preserve its civic space and uphold human rights in line with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ recent statement.