The decision has sparked widespread criticism from the opposition, who claim it is an effort to exclude serious contenders.
The commission announced that it had approved the candidacies of Saied, Zouhair Magzhaoui, an ally of Saied, and Ayachi Zammel for the upcoming October 6 election, while rejecting 14 other applicants.
Zammel, the head of the Azimoun party, is not seen as a major political figure.
Key politicians like Mondher Znaidi, Imed Daimi, Abdel Latif Mekki, Karim Gharbi, Safi Said, Kamel Akrout, and Nizar Chaari, alleged that the interior ministry prevented them from obtaining the criminal record documents now required to run.
They criticised the authorities for trying to bring Tunisia back to the era of dictatorship and rigged elections that existed before the 2011 revolution.
Farouk Bou Asker, the head of Tunisia’s electoral commission, stated that the candidates were disqualified due to insufficient citizen endorsements, not the lack of a criminal record card.
Opposition parties and human rights organisations have accused the government of employing “arbitrary restrictions” and intimidation to secure President Saied’s re-election.
Additionally, a Tunisian court recently sentenced four prospective presidential candidates to eight months in prison, banning them from running due to vote-buying charges.
On Friday, potential candidate Safi Said announced his withdrawal from the presidential race, calling it a “one-man show”.
President Kais Saied, who dissolved parliament and assumed full control in 2021—a move the opposition labeled a coup—had previously declared that he would not “hand over the country to non-patriots”.