Tunisians vote in presidential election with competition muted

Incumbent Kais Saied is facing only two other candidates and his main rival is in jail

Tunisian soldiers deliver ballot boxes to a polling station in Ariana, near Tunis, on Saturday. AFP

Tunisia was on Sunday holding its third presidential election since a watershed uprising in 2011, with the atmosphere tense following protests over the jailing of one candidate.

More than nine million Tunisians are eligible to vote, including more than 600,000 living abroad who began casting ballots in 58 countries on Friday, according to the Independent High Authority for Elections.

President Kais Saied is vying for a second five-year term and faces little competition, with only two candidates standing against him: Zouheir Maghzaoui of the pan-Arab nationalist People’s Movement and Ayachi Zammel of the Azimoun party.

Mr Zammel is currently in prison beginning a sentence of 13 years and eight months for falsifying the signatures of voters needed to endorse his candidacy, but the sentence must be approved by the Court of Cassation to be considered final.

The election is the third since a 2011 uprising ousted long-serving president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Observers and voters have criticised the lack of competition this time around after a number of candidates were disqualified. The elections authority has barred 14 candidates from taking part, citing insufficient endorsements and other technicalities.

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Tunis on Friday, decrying what they called growing repression.

More than 5,000 polling stations and 9,600 voting offices were open in 24 governorates across the nation on Sunday. About 57 tents have also been set up in the remote rural areas of Ben Arous, Ariana, El Kef, Monastir and Sfax to enable voting.

Preliminary results are expected on Monday evening, spokesman for the electoral authority, Mohamed Tlili Mansri, told state-owned news agency Tap.