Tunisia’s political tensions escalated as 34 lawmakers proposed a bill on Friday to strip the administrative court of its authority over electoral disputes, which the opposition says could undermine the Oct. 6 presidential election.
The administrative court is viewed as the last independent judicial body after President Kais Saied took control of the judiciary, dissolving the Supreme Judicial Council and dismissing judges in 2022.
The election commission, appointed by Saied, disqualified three major candidates—Mondher Znaidi, Abdellatif Mekki, and Imed Daimi—defying the administrative court’s role in electoral matters.
Of the two candidates allowed to run against Saied, one Ayachi Zammel was recently sentenced to 20 months in prison for falsifying election paperwork, a charge he claims is politically driven.
Law professors recently warned that the electoral commission’s refusal to reinstate disqualified candidates could delegitimize the upcoming election if any appeals are made to the administrative court.
President Kais Saied, who was elected in 2019 following Tunisia’s peaceful transition from the 2011 “Arab Spring” protests, has increasingly consolidated power, ruling by decree since 2021—a move the opposition calls a coup.
Critics accuse Saied of manipulating the electoral commission and judiciary to suppress competition and intimidate opponents.
Saied denies this, asserting he is combating corruption, mercenaries, and traitors, and insists he will not become a dictator.
A bill seen by Reuters proposes shifting electoral dispute jurisdiction from the administrative court to ordinary courts, which opposition and civil society groups argue are under Saied’s influence.
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