By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad has congratulated his Tunisian counterpart, Kais Saied on his re-election for a second term in office, an election that has been trailed by controversies after jailing of several opposition figures.
Assad in his message to Saied wants a collaboration among Arab countries that will build a stronger bloc, able to preserve its identity.
“If each of our Arab countries is able, through popular awareness along with responsible official work, to fortify its societies, then immunity will be stronger and more solid if we work together to preserve our authentic Arab identity,” he stated on Tuesday.
The Syrian leader is hopeful that a second term for the iron-fisted ruler who has been accused of grabbing power after his first election in 2019 will usher in progress and development in the North African country.
“Your visions and your thinking to lead Tunisia towards a new phase that we are confident will bring the country more progress and development, and will protect the people’s principles and preserve its stability and security in a world that is full of disturbances and intellectual currents aimed at undermining the societies’ values and morals and destroying minds.”
The country’s electoral commission, the Independent High Authority for Elections while declaring the result of the poll which held Sunday, said Saied received 90.7% of the vote,
Only two candidates out of more than a dozen other hopefuls were allowed to contest against President Saied, where only 29% of the more than nine million registered voters took part.
Saied’s closest challenger, businessman Ayachi Zammel, won 7% of the vote despite being sentenced to 12 years in prison for allegedly falsifying documents, just five days before the poll.
There were no campaign rallies or public debates to give voters varieties of options, and the streets were flooded with only campaign posters backing the President.
Five political parties had urged people to boycott the elections in the belief that they would not be free or fair.
Since he came into power, Saied a former law professor has suspended parliament, rewritten the constitution and concentrated power into his hands in the country where autocratic leader, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who ruled for 20 years was ousted in a pro-democracy movement, the Arab Spring in 2011.
Saied was widely expected to win a second term after the authorities arrested and jailed dissidents as well as potential rivals.
“According to preliminary results, Saied received 2,438,954 favourable votes,” the Independent High Authority for Elections said on Monday evening.
The third candidate on the ballot, former lawmaker Zouhair Maghzaou, received nearly 2% of the vote.
