lThe illiberal regression seems endless in Tunisia, a dizzying relapse into autocracy that shatters the achievements of its democratic transition after 2011. The presidential elections scheduled for Sunday, October 6, mark a new stage in the precipitous career of the president, Kaïs Saïed, candidate for re-election, towards the consolidation of a personal power that no longer cares about forms.
No matter how much of a jurist he may be, the former professor of constitutional law disposes of the Constitution and the laws according to his whims, shredding any legal corpus that hinders his aspiration for a monopoly. Proof of this is the last-minute modification of the electoral law aimed at stripping administrative justice, a fragile refuge of resistance, of its powers in matters of disputes arising from the polls.
Was it necessary for Kaïs Saïed to feel that the tide was turning to resort to this new legal force? Should he, whose popularity thanks to his anti-elite and sovereigntist populism had until then been resistant, be worried about a possible change in electoral fortunes, to impose the elimination of his most serious competitors with fallacious pretexts? The result is that these October 6 elections present an unfortunate air of a masquerade, with Saïed facing only two candidates, one of whom has just been sentenced to… twelve years in prison for “falsifying sponsorships.”
A sad spectacle offered by Kaïs Saïed’s Tunisia, where the political scene is nothing more than a field of ruins. According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 170 opposition activists or critical citizens are imprisoned, the media is muzzled, and associations are immobilized. A follower of the most baroque conspiracies, Saïed justifies this repressive escalation by investigating alleged conspiracies hatched abroad. The marginal sectors of the political class and civil society that had initially been seduced by his atypical project, where moral rectitude was mixed with social compassion and hostility towards political Islam, are now realizing their mistake.
Providential Savior transformed into autocrat
No one had really taken seriously their former positions hostile to representative democracy and intermediary bodies. Blinded by their rejection of the errors of the post-2011 transition – corruption, insecurity and socioeconomic deterioration – a majority of Tunisian society had surrendered to this providential savior transformed into an autocrat. Whatever his longevity in power, Saïed has already inflicted deep damage on the Tunisian political figure who gave rise to the hope of the “Arab Spring.”
To add to the misfortune of Tunisians, France and Europe are passive witnesses of Mr. Saïed’s dangerous adventurism. The shame whispered quietly by European diplomats does not weigh much in the face of the realpolitik decreed from Brussels. However, the latter is satisfied with Mr. Saïed’s collaboration to stop migratory flows towards Italy. The president of the Italian Council, Giorgia Meloni, even considered it a model for the outsourcing of border controls in the European Union. Added to this is the fear that any offense against Saïed will push him to deepen the flirtation already outlined with Russia, China and Iran. Faced with this silence from Europe, Tunisian democrats will only be able to count on themselves.
