TUNIS: Kais Saied has been re-elected president of Tunisia with 90.69 percent of votes cast, electoral authority ISIE said Monday, although low turnout reflected widespread discontent in the cradle of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings.
Three years after Saied made a sweeping power grab, rights groups fear his re-election will entrench his grip on the only democracy to emerge from the 2011 protests.
Saied, 66, won Sunday’s vote by a landslide with 2.4 million votes — but with turnout at only 28.8 percent of nearly 10 million eligible voters.
His imprisoned rival Ayachi Zammel received just 7.3 percent, and third candidate Zouhair Maghzaoui only 1.9 percent, ISIE head Farouk Bouasker said on national television.
Critics said the low turnout reflected widespread disillusionment with the election.
On Sunday, the ISIE said just six percent of voters were aged 18-35, a category constituting a third of the initially eligible electorate.
After longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in 2011, Tunisia prided itself on being the birthplace of the regional revolts against authoritarianism that became known as the Arab Spring.
But the North African country’s path changed dramatically after Saied was elected in 2019 with 73 percent of the vote.
Two years later, he dissolved parliament, and later rewrote the constitution.
Sunday’s turnout was the lowest recorded in a Tunisian presidential after Ben Ali’s ouster. In 2019, 58 percent turned out to vote for Saied as president.
“I didn’t vote yesterday, simply because I no longer have confidence and I am desperate,” said Houcine, 63, giving only one name for fear of retribution.
Political commentator Hatem Nafti, author of a forthcoming book on Saied’s authoritarian rule, said: “The vote’s legitimacy is undoubtedly tainted with candidates who could have overshadowed (Saied) being systematically sidelined.”
On Monday, the European Union said it had “taken note” of criticisms from rights groups “concerning the integrity of the electoral process” and “various measures deemed detrimental to the democratic requirements of credibility” of the vote.
Late Sunday, hundreds of Saied supporters took to the streets of Tunis in celebration after exit polls announced his potential win with 89 percent.
“I voted yesterday, and the results are excellent, everything is going very well, the atmosphere is great,” said Mounir, 65.
“What we need now is a drop in prices. We want better education, health and above all safety.”
Saied had been widely expected to win after the ISIE barred 14 candidates from standing, leaving just Zammel and Maghzaoui as challengers.
Zammel, a little-known liberal businessman, has been behind bars since his bid was approved by the ISIE in September. He faces more than 14 years in prison for allegedly forging endorsements.
Maghzaoui had backed Saied’s power grab, and was seen as no threat.
Rights groups have condemned a democratic backslide in Tunisia in recent years.
According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, more than “170 people are detained in Tunisia on political grounds or for exercising their fundamental rights.”
Other jailed figures include Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist-inspired opposition party Ennahdha, which dominated political life after the revolution.
Also detained is Abir Moussi, head of the Free Destourian Party, which critics accuse of wanting to bring back the regime ousted in 2011.
Saied had called on Tunisians to “vote massively” to usher in what he called an era of “reconstruction.”
He cited “a long war against conspiratorial forces linked to foreign circles,” accusing them of “infiltrating many public services and disrupting hundreds of projects.”
Ben Ali and other Arab leaders often cited foreign conspiracies to justify crackdowns on dissent.
The International Crisis Group think tank has said that while Saied “enjoys significant support among the working classes, he has been criticized for failing to resolve the country’s deep economic crisis.”
Celebrating the exit polls late Sunday, Saied again warned of “foreign interference,” pledging to rid Tunisia “of the corrupt and conspirators.”
Nafti said Saied will use his re-election as carte blanche for further crackdowns.
“He has promised to get rid of traitors and enemies of Tunisia,” Nafti said. “He will harden his rule.”