TUNIS: The Tunisian election board announced Saturday that three candidates including incumbent President Kais Saied had been cleared to run in upcoming elections.
Saied, 66, was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021 and is now seeking another term in office in elections to be held on October 6.
Farouk Bouasker, president of the High Independent Authority for Elections (ISIE), told a news conference that 14 other presidential hopefuls were barred from the race after "not collecting enough endorsements".
Apart from Saied, the two other candidates on the ballot are former lawmakers Zouhair Maghzaoui and Ayachi Zammel, who heads a little-known party.
Maghzaoui has come out in support of Saied's power grab.
Experts have said presidential hopefuls faced significant constraints in their bid to challenge Saied, who has faced accusations of an "authoritarian drift" and a "rollback" on freedoms from rights groups and critics.
To be listed on the ballot, candidates are required to present a list of signatures from 10,000 registered voters, with at least 500 voter signatures per constituency -- "an enormous number" according to political analyst Amine Kharrat -- or secure endorsements from lawmakers or local officials.
ISIE also required a clean criminal record.
Several would-be contenders complained of obstacles in obtaining their criminal records as well as the necessary endorsement forms.
Numerous potential candidates are behind bars, many of them over accusations of "conspiracy against the state".
As part of Saied's consolidation of power, Tunisia's constitution was rewritten in 2022 to create a presidential regime whose parliament has extremely limited powers.
More than 20 of Saied's opponents have been detained in a flurry of arrests that began in February 2023.
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Tunisia president among three cleared to run in election
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Tunisia president among three cleared to run in election
- Experts have said presidential hopefuls faced significant constraints in their bid to challenge Saied
Israeli destruction of Gaza continues despite ceasefire
- At least 2,500 buildings demolished, NYT reports, using satellite imagery
- It’s not selective destruction, it’s everything,’ says former Israeli commander
LONDON: Israel continues to destroy buildings and infrastructure in Gaza despite signing a ceasefire agreement more than two months ago, the New York Times reported.
At least 2,500 buildings have been demolished. While much of the destruction has taken place in Israeli-occupied Gaza, the NYT, using satellite imagery obtained from Planet Labs, showed that numerous buildings had been demolished in territory ostensibly controlled by Hamas, despite the terms of the ceasefire including an Israeli pledge to cease operations there.
A UN report last year found that as much as 80 percent of Gaza’s buildings were either damaged or destroyed during the nearly two-year conflict that ravaged the enclave, with most of its population displaced.
Gaza-based political analyst Mohammed Al-Astal told the NYT: “Israel is wiping entire areas off the map.”
He added: “The Israeli military is destroying everything in front of it — homes, schools, factories and streets. There’s no security justification for what it’s doing.”
A former Israeli military official called the activity “absolute destruction.” Shaul Arieli, a former commander who served in Gaza in the 1990s, added: “It’s not selective destruction, it’s everything.”
A Hamas official based in Qatar said Israel’s actions violate the ceasefire. “The agreement isn’t vague, it’s clear,” Husam Badran told the NYT. “Destroying people’s homes and property isn’t allowed. They’re hostile actions.”
