Tunisian president sets Oct. 6 as date for presidential elections

TUNIS, Tunisia

Tunisia’s president called for holding the country's presidential elections on Oct. 6, according to a statement late on Tuesday.

The brief statement said Kais Saied "issued a writ for the presidential elections scheduled for Sunday, October 6, 2024."

Saied is expected to run for a second term after he won his first five-year term in 2019.

In April, the National Salvation Front, the major opposition coalition in Tunisia, said it would not participate in the presidential elections, citing the absence of conditions of competition and the imprisonment of political opponents.

The opposition boycotted the December 2022 parliamentary elections and the local municipal elections last December and early this year.

Tunisia has been in the throes of deep political crisis that has aggravated the country's economic conditions since 2021 when Saied ousted the government and dissolved parliament.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar