Tunisia sets presidential election date for October 6, 2024
Tunisia’s next presidential election is scheduled for October 6, 2024, according to a brief statement released by the Tunisian presidency on its official Facebook page on Tuesday evening.
“Tuesday, July 2, 2024, the President of the Republic, Kais Saied, issued a decree calling on voters to cast their ballots for the presidential election on Sunday, October 6, 2024.”
No further details were provided by the Tunisian presidency.
Kais Saied assumed the presidency following the second round of the presidential election on October 13, 2019, where he competed against Nabil Karoui (currently in exile), the former owner of Nessma TV.
He secured victory with 72.7% of the vote, representing over 3 million voters out of nearly 8 million registered voters and a population of 11.5 million Tunisians.
Two years after his election, on July 25, 2021, amidst political deadlock and economic crisis, Kais Saied dismissed the government, dissolved the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, and the Supreme Judicial Council, beginning to legislate by decree.
On July 25, 2022, he organized a referendum to amend the 2014 Constitution, born from the revolution, aiming notably to change Tunisia’s political system from semi-parliamentary to a presidential system granting extensive powers to the President.
Saied’s actions have sparked significant internal opposition, particularly from political parties and numerous civil society organizations.
Some viewpoints, however, interpret Saied’s actions as a realignment of the revolutionary process that ousted former President Ben Ali on January 14, 2011.
