Middle East
Tunisia Election Season Begins With President’s Rivals Arrested
- Would-be challengers in October vote face array of charges
- Ballot comes amid economic lassitude, stalled IMF and EU deals
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Tunisia kicked off its election season with a wave of arrests targeting rivals and critics of President Kais Saied, stirring fears of a barely-contested vote that would deal a hammer blow to what was once the Arab world’s most progressive democracy.
Saied, an outsider who was surprise victor in 2019, has yet to confirm he’ll run in the Oct. 6 presidential ballot. But in a matter of days, three prominent aspiring candidates have faced police action in a crackdown that’s also swept up members of the largest remaining opposition party.