Tunisia’s electoral authority approves just 2 candidates

4/9/2024 6:26

        Tunisia’s electoral authority on Monday definitively approved just two candidates to challenge President Kais Saied in elections next month in the struggling North African country — and one of them was promptly arrested.
        
        Businessman candidate Ayachi Zammel was taken into custody Monday in an investigation into allegations relating to falsification of signatures from registered voters, his lawyer Saber Laabidi told the Associated Press. Last month, authorities arrested the treasurer of Zammel’s former party on similar charges.
        
        Also Monday, Tunisia’s electoral authority confirmed that only incumbent Saied, Zammel, who leads a small pro-business party, and Zouhair Maghzaoui, a former left-wing pan-Arabist member of parliament, could run for president in the Oct. 6 election. A total of 17 candidates had initially sought to join the race.