Polls opened for the presidential election in Tunisia on Sunday with President Kais Saied set to win a second term in power after having jailed his main rivals.

The election comes amid a dire economic situation in the North African country and a severe reduction of democratic rights.

Tunisia had been the birthplace of the Arab Spring over ten years ago and, for a while, an example of a successful turn to democracy after years of authoritarian rule.

But President Saied, 66, who came to power in a landslide election in 2019, shut down the parliament and re-wrote the constitution, taking Tunisia back to its authoritarian past.

Who are the contenders for the Tunisian presidency?

Saied is facing two opponents: a former ally turned critic and a recently imprisoned leader of a small party who has seen a sudden rise in popularity.

The leaders of bigger rival parties were imprisoned or barred from standing by an electoral commission whose members were handpicked by Saied. An independent court was also stripped of its power to decide on election disputes shortly before the vote.

Zouhair Maghzaoui, leader of the Al-Chaab party, had previously backed Saied's power-grab in 2021, but is now running against him.

Ayachi Zammel, was little known before he was arrested after his candidacy was approved last month, but he has seen his popularity grow while in jail, where he has been sentenced to stay for 14 years after having been accused of forging endorsement signatures.

Tunisia's economic woes

While Saied's victory appears to be a foregone conclusion, the president has rejected claims that he is dismantling Tunisia's democracy, instead accusing his opponents of being traitors.

But during his five years in power, he has struggled to solve the country's economic problems that have resulted in shortages of subsidized goods as well as water and electricity outages, high unemployment and high inflation.

Saied has appeared unwilling to submit to unpopular spending cuts that would enable him to secure an IMF loan. The country is getting by on recovering tourism and assistance from the EU in exchange for a crackdown on migration.

ab/rm (Reuters, AFP)