However, Saied did not say if he will seek a second term after five years of heading the North African nation once seen as a model of democracy for the Arab world.
The election will be voters’ first chance to evaluate Saied’s tenure amid an economic crisis and the drift into authoritarianism.
Saied ran in 2019 on a populist, anti-corruption platform that energized Tunisians disillusioned with party politics and economic stagnation, following the Arab Spring pro-democracy protests that toppled the country’s longtime dictator in 2011.
However, Saied reversed some of Tunisia’s democratic gains, rewriting the constitution to consolidate his power and jailing critics, including from the largest political parties.
