Tunisians set to protest against authoritarianism ahead of upcoming presidential election

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisians are expected to take to the streets on Friday to denounce the tumult that’s plagued the country’s upcoming election, with candidates arrested, kicked off the ballot or banned from politics for life.

The newly-formed “Tunisian Network for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms” hopes to draw attention to what it has called a surge in authoritarianism.

“Protesting this Friday is a reaction to the violation of rights and freedoms we’re seeing in Tunisia today. The other reason is seeing some citizens being deprived of their right to run in the presidential vote,” said Mohieddine Lagha, Secretary-General of the Tunisian League for Human Rights.

The North African country’s Independent High Authority for Elections has sparred with judges over which candidates will be allowed to appear on the ballot in the October 6 election.

The commission’s detractors have accused it of lacking independence and acting on behalf of President Kais Saied, who appoints its members.

The commission has rejected organizations that have applied to be election observers, and it has said it will not add three candidates to the ballot who won court appeals challenging the authority’s earlier rejections.

That includes former health minister Abdellatif Mekki, a former member of the Islamist movement Ennahda now running with his own party, Work and Accomplishment. Mekki was arrested in July on charges his attorneys said were political and banned from politics for life.

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A court ordered the election authority to put him on the ballot last month, and his candidacy was reinstated for a second time earlier this week. ISIE dismissed the first court’s ruling and has not commented on the most recent one.

“We called for a large participation of the population in this protest as we’re hoping to pressure for a massive mobilization,” Ahmed Neffati, Mekki’s campaign manager, told The Associated Press.

“Tunisians won’t let go of their right for a free and democratic election,” he added.

Despite expectations of a barely-contested vote, Saied has upended Tunisian politics in recent months. Last month he sacked the majority of his cabinet, and his critics decried a wave of arrests and gag orders on leading opposition figures as politically driven.

The International Crisis Group last week said Tunisia was in a “deteriorating situation,” and Human Rights Watch called on the election commission to reinstate the candidates.

“Holding elections amid such repression makes a mockery of Tunisians’ right to participate in free and fair elections,” said Bassam Khawaja, the group’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director.

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Metz reported from Rabat, Morocco.