President Kais Saied has been accused of obstructing his opponents ahead of the October 6 presidential election.
Tunisian police have arrested a prominent opposition politician identified as one of only two opponents to President Kais Saied in the upcoming elections.
Ayachi Zamer was detained early on Monday, shortly before the country’s electoral commission announced that he, along with the incumbent president and another challenger, had been on the final list of candidates for the October 6 election.
This confirmed the committee’s earlier decision to exclude several other candidates who had hoped to run, and rights groups have accused Saied of trying to eliminate political rivals.
Zamel was taken to a police station on the outskirts of the capital, Tunis, on suspicion of creating a false endorsement document in support of his candidacy, his campaign manager said.
“This case has become absurd and they are trying to remove him from the elections,” Mahdi Abdeljawad said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Tunisian government of blocking President Kais Saied’s rivals from challenging him in the upcoming elections.
Saied, who is seeking a second term, took power in elections in 2019, but has since attempted to seize power, including closing parliament and ruling by decree in 2021. Opposition figures have also been jailed.
The treasurer of Mr Zamel’s Ajmon party was arrested last month on similar charges and is due to go on trial on September 13.
The other candidate approved by the electoral commission is Zuhair Magzaoui of the left-wing nationalist People’s Movement party.
To appear on the ballot, candidates must submit a signature list of either 10,000 registered voters, 10 members of parliament or 40 local officials.
Several candidates have been accused by the government of forging signatures.
The electoral commission’s announcement reinstates an earlier decision to disqualify several other candidates, including Imed Daimi, an adviser to former President Moncef Marzouki.
Last week, Tunisia’s highest judicial body ruled that Daimi and two other leading candidates, Monder Znaidi and Abdellatif Mekki, should be allowed to run.
HRW said at least eight candidates had been “indicted, convicted or imprisoned.”
Political parties and human rights groups issued a joint statement and staged a protest near the election headquarters on Monday, demanding implementation of the court’s decision to reinstate candidates and an end to “arbitrary restrictions” and intimidation.