Candidacy restrictions plague Tunisia’s presidential election.

TUNIS: Tunisia has kicked off candidacy submissions for its upcoming presidential election on October 6, amid what experts say are significant constraints on hopefuls challenging incumbent President Kais Saied.

A number of conditions and requirements to run for office have changed under Saied, 66, who was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021.

To qualify to appear on the ballot, candidates are required to gather “an enormous number” of signatures, said Amine Kharrat, a political analyst at independent observatory Al Bawsala.

“The conditions have been hardened,” Isabelle Werenfels, North Africa expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told AFP.

Not to mention, a number of would-be candidates will not be able to even obtain the initial candidacy form because they are in prison.

Among them are Issam Chebbi, leader of centrist party Al Joumhouri, and Ghazi Chaouchi, head of the social-democrat party Democratic Current.

Detained for “plotting against the state”, the two politicians are among over 20 of Saied’s opponents held since a flurry of arrests in February 2023.