Tunisian President Kais Saied has won a second five-year term by a significant margin, achieving over 90% of the votes in an election marked by historically low voter participation. According to the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), the turnout was just 27.7%.
Ayachi Zammel, who is currently incarcerated, came in second with 7.4% of the votes, following his 12-year prison sentence for alleged document forgery during the election process. Former lawmaker Zouhair Maghzaoui, who previously aligned with Saied, also appeared on the ballot. The ISIE had eliminated more than a dozen candidates prior to the election, leaving only these three to compete.
Although the turnout was an improvement over the 11% seen in last December’s local elections, it still indicated significant voter discontent as Tunisia faces a drift toward authoritarian governance.
In a statement to state television celebrating his victory, Saied referred to the election as a continuation of the revolution, vowing to eliminate corruption and treason from the country. Saied assumed power in 2019 after the Arab Spring protests led to the removal of former president Ben Ali. Since then, he has suspended parliament and endorsed a referendum that granted him extensive powers.
Numerous opposition leaders, including former MP Said Ferjani, remain in custody with limited access to family and legal counsel. Saied has also drawn international condemnation for remarks regarding undocumented black migrants, which he shrugged off by stating that he has family members married to Africans, asserting that this disqualifies him from being racist.