(Bloomberg) -- President Kais Saied will run for a second term in Tunisia’s Oct. 6 elections as authorities crack down on rivals.
A non-partisan who was the surprise winner of the previous vote in 2019, Saied said his bid aims “to continue the struggle in the national battle for liberation” in the North African country.
“If I had been given a choice, I would not have chosen, but when the sacred national duty calls, there is no room for hesitation,” Saied said in a four-minute video his cabinet posted on Facebook.
The president warned voters against accepting bribes from candidates seeking endorsements, and to watch for peddlers of “deception.”
“The mask has fallen off the faces of some and others shall certainly be unmasked in the coming days,” he added.
The 66-year old constitutional law professor seized near-total powers in July 2021, raising fears that he’s drifting toward autocratic rule. The first presidential electoral season since then kicked off this month with a wave of arrests involving the main opposition party, as well as restrictions on media coverage.
On Friday, a court in Tunis sentenced presidential candidate Lotfi Mraihi to eight months in prison and banned him for life from standing in any election after he was found guilty of money laundering.
Tunisia’s election commission has imposed a ban on political ads and opinion polls, which constitute a novelty in the nation since it gave birth in 2011 to the boldest democratic revolt of the Arab Spring.
Most Tunisians have had to contend with a steep decline in their living standards since then, due in large part to political turmoil and instability.
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