Tunisia’s 2024 Presidential Elections: What’s at Stake?

On September 26, 2024, TIMEP hosted a virtual panel discussion titled “Tunisia’s 2024 Presidential Elections: What’s at Stake?”

The panel discussion included Lamine Benghazi (Head of the Rule of Law and Justice program at Avocats Sans Frontières and former nonresident fellow at TIMEP), Hamza Meddeb (Research fellow and Director of the Political Economy Program at Carnegie Middle East Center), Houda Mzioudet (Freelance researcher on Tunisian and Libyan affairs), and was moderated by Leyla Doss (TIMEP’s Media and External Relations Manager, journalist, and former co-founder of Mada Masr).

Tunisians will vote in presidential elections on October 6. In the months leading up to the vote, the authorities have arrested or prosecuted several candidates who were planning to or would have run for office, and the Independent Higher Election Authority has barred 14 from running on procedural grounds. However, some court challenges have progressed successfully. Ultimately, a limited number of candidates will be permitted to challenge sitting President Kais Saied, while the political environment in which the vote takes place remains an increasingly repressive one. Saied’s administration has stifled the judiciary’s independence and cracked down on peaceful dissent; over 60 journalists, lawyers, and political opponents have been prosecuted under a cybercrime decree that came into force in late 2022.

Meanwhile, Tunisia’s economy is facing severe challenges. The unemployment rate is at 15 percent, and roughly one in three Tunisians live in poverty, as inflation has eaten away at much of the population’s standard of living. President Saied has weaponized an anti-migrant discourse to deflect blame for worsening socioeconomic conditions, all while negotiating with European partners for migration deals to keep migrants off of European shores. 

Panelists explored questions such as: 

• Who are the viable presidential candidates running in Tunisia’s elections, and what is to be expected? 
• How will the upcoming presidential elections intersect with the country’s wider political, social, and economic context? 
• What steps should stakeholders worldwide take as they engage with Tunisia in this critical moment?

Watch the discussion here:

Speaker Profiles:

Houda Mzioudet

Freelance Researcher in Tunisian and Libyan Affairs

Houda Mzioudet is a freelance researcher in Tunisian and Libyan affairs and has covered the Arab uprisings with international news outlets. Global think tanks, including the Brookings Institution and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have published her research on the Tunisian democratic transition and the conflict in Libya. She co-authored a book on Libya’s displacement crisis (with Megan Bradly and Ibrahim Fraihat) in 2016 with Georgetown University Press. She authored a book chapter on Black Tunisian activism and transitional justice in 2022 in the volume “The Transitional Justice in Tunisia: Innovations, Continuities, Challenges,” with Routledge (co-edited by Simon Robins and Paul Gready). She holds an MA in cultural studies from the University of Manouba and a BA in political science from the University of Toronto.

Lamine Benghazi

Head of Rule of Law and Justice Program at Avocats Sans Frontières

Lamine Benghazi is the Head of the Rule of Law and Justice Program at Avocats Sans Frontières and a former nonresident fellow at TIMEP. At TIMEP, he focused on the rule of law and the judiciary in Tunisia, paying particular attention to criminal justice reform, transitional justice, and the independence of the judiciary. He is heading the Justice and Rule of Law program at Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) in Tunisia, an international NGO promoting human rights and access to justice. Before joining ASF, Lamine was responsible for Marsad Majles, the parliament observation program at Al Bawsala, where he remains a board member. Before returning to Tunisia and engaging with civil society, Lamine lived in France and China, studying Mandarin Chinese and working in the startup industry. He holds an MA in Media and Politics in the Middle East from SOAS University in London.

Hamza Meddeb

Research fellow and Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center Political Economy Program

Hamza Meddeb is a research fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, where he co-leads the Political Economy Program. His research focuses on the political economy of Tunisia and North Africa, the politics of illicit transnational flows, governance, and corruption, as well as the intersection between development and security.

Leyla Doss

Media and External Relations Manager at TIMEP

Leyla Doss is the Media and External Relations Manager at TIMEP. Her areas of interest are Middle Eastern and North African foreign policy, history, geopolitics, and cultural heritage. She was also a print investigative reporter in Egypt before and after the 2011 uprising and co-founder of the independent investigative news outlet Mada Masr. Before joining TIMEP, she reported extensively on human rights, natural resource conflicts, and politics from North Africa, mainly Egypt. She has been featured in print and audio for The Guardian, the Financial Times, Kerning Cultures Network, and Ted Interview. She also led communications strategy and editorial campaigns for mission-driven organizations, such as Just Vision and its local partners, +972 Magazine and Mekomit, to shape factual investigative reporting and documentary filmmaking on Palestine. She has an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and an M.A. in Middle Eastern studies from SOAS, University of London.