Tunisia's Kais Saied poised for landslide election victory after crackdown on opposition

Tunisia's incumbent President Kais Saied is set to win the presidential election with 89.2 percent of the vote, exit polls revealed on Sunday, despite a low turnout. Rights groups fear his re-election, following a sweeping power grab, will further entrench his authoritarian rule in the country that once symbolised the Arab Spring uprisings.

Tunisia's incumbent President Kais Saied is set to win the country's presidential election with 89.2 percent support despite a low turnout, according to exit polls broadcast on national television Sunday after polls closed.

Saied, 66, is expected to win by a landslide, routing his challengers -- imprisoned rival Ayachi Zammel, who was set to collect 6.9 percent of the vote, and Zouhair Maghzaoui, with 3.9 percent, said independent polling group Sigma Conseil.

Three years after Saied staged a sweeping power grab, rights groups fear re-election will only further entrench his rule in the country, the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.

With the ouster of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia prided itself on being the birthplace of those regional revolts against authoritarianism.

But the north African country's path changed dramatically soon after Saied's election in 2019.


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