Tunisia court stripped of electoral power days before vote

Tunisia's Parliament backed a law on Friday that strips a top court of its power to rule on electoral disputes.

The measure was approved by 116 of the 161 lawmakers in the chamber.

It comes just nine days ahead of the North African country's presidential elections, sparking fears among opposition groups that President Kais Saied will try to hold onto power.

What else do we know about the draft law?

The draft law removes the power of the administrative court, which is widely seen as Tunisia's last independent judicial body after Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and fired dozens of judges in 2022.

The court is at loggerheads with the country's electoral commission (ISIE) — whose members are chosen by Saied — following the body's decision to bar three presidential hopefuls from running in the October 6 election. The court in August overturned that decision, ordering that the disqualified candidates be reinstated. But the ISIE has ignored the court and only allowed two candidates to run against Saied.

Businessman Ayachi Zammel, who is one of the two other candidates that have been allowed to run, was imprisoned earlier this month for allegedly forging voter endorsements. Zammel has alleged that the charges against him are political.

The only other candidate is former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui, who is a former Saied supporter and belongs to the pan-Arabist Echaab party.

On Friday, lawmakers said in a statement that they drafted the bill over "discord" with the court's ruling that granted the barred candidates their appeals.

They also cited "imminent danger that threatens the unity of the state and its social order."

Opposition, rights groups call for protests

Demonstrators gathered outside the parliament on Friday to protest the amendment, calling it undemocratic. Civil rights activists and opposition parties have also called for protests on Saturday.

Wissam Sghaier, spokesman for centrist party Al Jomhouri, denounced the amendment as a "last-minute change of the rules of the game" and independent parliamentarian Hichem Hosni called the bill "unconstitutional."

Saied was democratically elected in 2019, but later moved to strengthen his hold on power by dissolving parliament and replacing it with a legislature with limited powers.

nm, sdi/msh (Reuters, AP)