Five weeks from Tunisia's presidential election, police have arrested one of the few opposition candidates authorised to run against President Kais Saied. It comes amid what civil society groups have denounced as a "dictatorial" political climate ahead of the 6 October polls.
Ayachi Zammel, the leader of a liberal party, was arrested early on Monday morning on suspicion of falsifying endorsements, his campaign team told Reuters news agency.
He was one of only two challengers who saw their applications to stand against Saied approved by Tunisia's electoral commission, the ISIE.
Fourteen other opposition candidates tried to run, but their bids were denied.
Three successfully appealed the commission's decisions in court: former minister Mondher Zenaidi, prominent politician Imed Daimi, and Abdellatif Mekki, former leader of the conservative Islamist party Ennahda.
Yet the ISIE refused to accept the rulings. None of the three featured on its final list of candidates, announced on Monday afternoon.
Dominant power
Aside from Saied, only two other candidates were approved: Zammel and Zouhair Maghzaoui of the pan-Arab, left-wing People's Movement, who long supported Saied before distancing himself from the president.
Democracy watchdogs have criticised the incumbent's stranglehold on the country's institutions – notably on the judiciary.
Bassem Trifi, president of the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH), told RFI's correspondent in Tunis that the current political climate was unhealthily dominated "by a single power".
That means the election is not taking place on a level playing field, according to the non-profit organisation, which also decries pressure on the media, the detention of opposition figures and violent political discourse.
With concerns for the ballot growing, it warns that Tunisia is on the verge of becoming "a vast prison".
'Unfree and unfair'
The October election is bound to be "non-transparent, unfree and unfair", Yosra Frawes, director of the Maghreb and Middle East office at the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), told RFI's Afrique Midi programme.
Many opposition figures remain in prison, she said, and Tunisia is in the grip of a new "dictatorial" climate.
Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tunisian authorities "have prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned at least eight prospective candidates" ahead of the October vote.
Mekki has faced multiple different charges and in August was sentenced to eight months in prison for allegedly faking endorsements. He is appealing the conviction, but remains barred from appearing in the media or leaving his neighbourhood in the southern suburbs of Tunis.
Authorities are also "stifling dissent, especially in the media", according to Human Rights Watch, which reports that at least five media professionals are currently behind bars for their work or opinions.
According to the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, at least 39 cases have been brought against journalists for their work since May 2023, many under laws against cybercrime and terrorism.
President's reshuffle
Elected in 2019, Saied has been accused of orchestrating a sweeping power grab since 2021 – when he dismissed his prime minister and parliament.
He had a new constitution approved by referendum in 2022 that created a presidential system with a parliament that has only limited powers.
Last weekend Saied carried out another major government reshuffle, replacing 22 ministers out of the 30 in his government.
The president described his choice as “indispensable” to ensure what he calls "national security".
Without giving further details, he spoke of "power hubs" within the "Tunisian state apparatus itself" that needed to be dismantled.
