Is Tunisia ready for 2024 elections?

Sara al-Harith

Tunisia has started turning its attention to its presidential elections which are slated for 2024.

Economic and political conditions in the North African country are apparently forcing its citizens and political forces to wait on tenterhooks for the elections.

Clashes have been raging on between Tunisian President, Kais Saied, on one hand, and his country’s political forces, on the other, since July 25, 2021.

These clashes erupted after the president’s dissolution of the Tunisian parliament.

President Saied also took a raft of other measures that marginalized some of Tunisia’s political forces that had been active on the Tunisian political scene since 2011.

The same measures prompted Tunisian secular forces to accuse President Saied of ruling their country dictatorially.

Tunisia is experiencing its worst economic crisis in modern history. It has requested a loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Questions are, meanwhile, beginning to arise about the possibility of holding elections on time.

There are also questions about the extent to which Tunisia is ready to have a new president.

This comes as some of the measures taken on July 25, 2021 have not been put into force yet, including the inclusion on Ennahda movement, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia, on terrorism lists.

Election on time

Tunisian politicians believe that to hold healthy elections on time requires the presence of political forces capable of running in the elections.

This does not seem to be available so far, as the political parties have failed in forming a unified entity opposed to the president, despite the convergence of their views in the way he manages the scene.

Professor of political philosophy at the Tunisian University, Salah Daoudi, said Tunisian political parties are not ready for the elections.

The political parties, he said, are going through very difficult conditions.

He explained that there is no political party in Tunisia that is capable of running in elections and fulfilling the aspirations of Tunisians away from lobbies and political corruption.

Daoudi noted that he was surprised by the inability of entities, whether supporting or opposing the July 25 course, to unite their ranks.

The formation of entities in this way, he said, would have produced a sound political life.