Tunisian President Kais Saied is on course to win the presidential election with 89.2% of the vote, according to an exit poll broadcast on state television, consolidating Saied’s power after a takeover three years ago .
The outgoing president is in the lead with 89.2% of the votes, while the participation rate in Sunday’s election reached 28%. Tunisian President Kais Saied appears poised to secure re-election with 89.2 percent of the vote, consolidating his power after a takeover established three years ago, according to an exit poll broadcast by state television. The Independent High Authority for Tunisian Elections (ISIE) will announce the official results of the vote Monday evening.
Aged 66, Saied was facing two competitors, including his former ally turned critic, Zouhair Maghzaoui, head of the Chaab party, as well as Ayachi Zammel, a businessman who, until his incarceration, last month, posed a significant threat to his re-election. According to the exit poll, Maghzaoui, 59, received 3.9 percent of the vote, while Zammel, 47, received 6.9 percent.
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The ISIE reported that turnout in Sunday’s elections stood at 27.7%. Its spokesperson, Mohamed Tlili Mansri, had previously expressed his expectation of a rate of around 30%. Several prominent figures from the main opposition parties, largely hostile to Saied, have been imprisoned on various charges and have not publicly supported any of the three candidates running.
Among the incarcerated opposition figures is Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the opposition Ennahda party, which dominated the political scene following the 2011 “Arab Spring” protests aimed at overthrowing President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. According to human rights organizations, since 2019, the year he was elected, Saied has reversed the democratic gains achieved through the revolution. The latter rejected the criticism, saying his actions were intended to fight a “corrupt elite” as well as “traitors”.
