Tunisia’s electoral commission on Saturday announced a final list of 26 presidential candidates to stand in a September 15 poll to elect a successor to late leader Beji Caid Essebsi. “There are 26 candidates for the 2019 presidential election,” electoral commission (ISIE) head Nabil Baffoun told a press conference. The poll was brought forward from November following Essebsi’s death in July. He had been elected in the wake of the 2011 revolt that overthrew former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Candidates to have been given the green light include Prime Minister Youssef Chahed [profile], interim parliamentary speaker Abdelfattah Mourou and former defence minister Abdelkrim Zbidi. They also include media magnate Nabil Karoui, despite his arrest on August 23 for alleged money laundering. According to Baffoun, even convicted candidates can take part as long as the verdict against them does not specifically say they are banned from running in an election. Karoui had been charged with money laundering in early July shortly after stating his intention to stand in the polls, but has remained a leading candidate. The final list includes only two women — former tourism minister Salma Elloumi and Abir Moussi, who heads a group formed from the remnants of Ben Ali’s ruling party.

Campaigning began Saturday abroad and will run from September 2 to 13 in Tunisia. Some 1.2 million Tunisians live overseas, mainly in Europe. The prime minister launched his overseas campaign in the French city of Lyon on Saturday, where he cast himself as a human rights defender. “We hope to speak with Tunisians to explain to them… our vision for a stronger Tunisia, a more modern and developed Tunisia, and a Tunisia that truly believes in the universal values of human rights,” he told AFP ahead of a campaign meeting.

Tunisia has been praised as a rare case of democratic transition after the Arab Spring uprisings. But it has struggled with repeated jihadist attacks, along with inflation and unemployment that have hit Chahed’s popularity.

Presidential campaign officially starts 

Tunis, Sept 2, 2019 (By Caroline Nelly Perrot) – Campaigning for Tunisia’s presidential election opened Monday with 26 candidates vying to replace late leader Beji Caid Essebsi in a vote seen as vital to defending democratic gains in the cradle of the Arab Spring. Seven million Tunisians are expected to head to the ballot box in the September 15 poll, which was brought forward from November following Essebsi’s death in July.

Tunisia’s first democratically elected president, Essebsi took office in the wake of the 2011 uprising that overthrew former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked revolts across the Arab world. The North African country has been praised as a rare case of democratic transition after the Arab Spring. But it has faced economic woes and repeated jihadist attacks — including a gun battle in the northwest on Monday that killed a national guard officer and three suspected jihadists. “Terrorists are still around but Tunisia is stronger,” said Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, among those vying for the presidency.

The vote comes with Tunisia’s political class divided by internal conflicts, including a struggle between Chahed and Essebsi’s son, leading the premier to quit the ruling Nidaa Tounes party and form Tahia Tounes. The latter has since become the second largest party in parliament, behind the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party. Aged 43, Chahed is Tunisia’s youngest prime minister, but since he took office his popularity has been hit by instability, inflation and unemployment. Other candidates include interim parliamentary speaker Abdelfattah Mourou, of Ennahdha, and former defence minister Abdelkrim Zbidi. Another powerful opponent could be media magnate Nabil Karoui, who despite his arrest on August 23 for alleged money laundering is still legally allowed to run. That makes for a vote markedly different from the 2014 election which had just two frontrunners — Essebsi and former president Moncef Marzouki. “It is the first time that Tunisians have no idea who will become their president,” said the Tunis-based Joussour think-tank. “Now everything is possible.”

– Karoui controversy-

Chahed launched his overseas campaign Saturday in the French city of Lyon, casting himself as a human rights defender. Some 1.2 million Tunisians live overseas, mainly in Europe. “We hope to speak with Tunisians to explain to them… our vision for a stronger Tunisia, a more modern and developed Tunisia, and a Tunisia that truly believes in the universal values of human rights,” he told AFP ahead of a campaign meeting. He also denied accusations from Karoui backers that he had masterminded the arrest of the controversial media magnate. Karoui, who recently set up a political party, Heart of Tunisia, has said he was targeted by “attempts to undermine his growing popularity”.  In recent years, Karoui used his popular Nessma TV, which is now banned from covering the election, to launch high-profile charity campaigns. Chahed’s government tried to eliminate Karoui from the race, passing an amended electoral code through parliament — but it was not ratified by Essebsi before his death. Tunisia’s electoral commission, which on Saturday approved the final list of 26 hopefuls, has banned the publication of opinion polls, making it difficult for pundits to evaluate each candidate’s strength.

– ‘Power cannot be shared’ –

Zbidi told AFP in an interview that if he were elected he was determined to “restart the social ladder” and make public services “accessible” for all Tunisians. The former defence minister, who presents himself as an independent technocrat, said he would like constitutional changes to give the head of state more powers. “Power cannot be shared,” he said. But he called for a referendum to choose a “parliamentary regime or a presidential one”. Ennahdha’s candidate Mourou is a founding member of the Islamist party and the first presidential candidate it has ever fielded. Political analyst Hamza Meddeb said he believed Mourou would make it to the second round of voting expected to be held in the first week of November. “The big unknown is who will be his rival,” Karoui, Chahed or Zbidi, he said. The final list of candidates includes only two women — former tourism minister Salma Elloumi and Abir Moussi, who heads a group formed from the remnants of Ben Ali’s ruling party. Campaigning ends on September 13, two days ahead of voting.

By  AFP