In Tunisia, Abir Moussi will be a candidate in the presidential election on October 6, from her prison. The Free Destourian Party, which claims to be the heir to Bourguiba and Ben Ali, announced on Friday, July 5 that its president will indeed campaign. Awaiting her trial, the 49-year-old lawyer has been in prison since October 3 for “incitement to arm citizens against each other” and “provocation and disorder” on Tunisian territory.
Abir Moussi is the first declared candidate to have a real popular base. Earlier this year, a poll even placed her in second position behind Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed.
The lawyer can count on the Free Destourian Party, present throughout the territory and armed with disciplined activists.
A fierce opponent of Kaïs Saïed, Abir Moussi, and her party had, until now, always boycotted the polls. The presidentialization of the regime has changed the situation, according to Thameur Saad, a member of the party’s political bureau: ” She is a candidate for the presidency because, in this country, nothing is done, now, according to the current rules, nothing is done outside the presidency. “
The political leader says he is ready to campaign, even if his candidate remains in prison. He wonders, however, whether the government will accept Abir Moussi’s candidacy: “I think that the authorities if they want to present a positive image of Tunisia and of themselves, it is better that they accept Abir Moussi’s candidacy. Otherwise, if they do not accept, well everyone must say that there is something wrong in Tunisia.”
The electoral body will give the final list of candidates on September 3.
