The Administrative Court in Tunisia has initially decided the fate of the presidential candidates rejected by the Higher Independent Electoral Commission, who had appealed against the decision to reject their candidacies. The court has rejected all the appeals, thus endorsing the decisions of the Electoral Commission.
The court rejected seven appeals in the first instance of litigation for the 2024 presidential election from six candidates, for various procedural reasons related to the lack of the required number of popular or parliamentary endorsements, absence of the necessary financial guarantee for candidacy, or issues with the nationality conditions required for the candidate.
The official spokesperson for the Administrative Court, Faisal Bouguerra, stated that the court received two appeals in the appellate stage after rejecting all appeals in the primary stage.
Bouguerra explained in statements to Sky News Arabia that the two cases would be reserved for negotiation and a verdict would be declared within 5 days, not exceeding August 31. He noted that the rulings issued by the judicial plenary in the appellate stage would be final and not subject to further appeal, according to the electoral law.
It’s worth mentioning that the Electoral Commission had accepted the files of three candidates for the presidential elections: Zuhair Maghzaoui, Secretary-General of the People’s Movement; the current President, Kais Saied; and the former leader of the Tahya Tounes party, Al Ayachi Zammal, while rejecting 14 candidacy files for various procedural reasons. Six candidates objected to the rejection of their files at the Administrative Court, including Constitutional Party leader Abir Moussi, political activist Mondher Zenaidi, former Minister of Education Naji Jalloul, Secretary-General of the Labor and Achievement Party Abdelatif Mekki, president of the Raqaba Observatory Imad Daïmi, and candidate Bashir Al-Awwani.
