The Board of the Independent Authority for Elections (ISIE), on Wednesday, asked the central legal directorate of the ISIE to prepare a draft law amending the authority’s executive decree No. 18-2014 on the rules and procedures for candidacy in the presidential elections in order to adapt it to the provisions of article 89 of the 2022 constitution.
ISIE spokesman Tlili Mnasri told TAP the ISIE Board examined three points, including the conditions for candidacy, which should be adapted to the new criteria set out in Articles 89 and 90 of the 2022 Constitution, relating to nationality, legal age and civil and political rights.
Article 89 of the Constitution states that all Tunisians who do not hold another nationality and who are born of a Tunisian father and mother and paternal and maternal grandparents have the right to stand as a candidate in the presidential elections. Candidates must be at least forty years of age on the date of submission of their candidature and must enjoy their civil and political rig
hts.
The candidacy is submitted to the ISIE, in accordance with the conditions established by the Electoral Code, as stated in the same article.
Article 90 stipulates that the President of the Republic shall be elected for a five-year term by universal, free, direct and secret suffrage by an absolute majority of the votes cast during the last three months of the presidential term.
The candidate must be supported by members of the elected assemblies or by the electorate, in accordance with the electoral law.
If no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round, a second round is held within two weeks of the announcement of the final results of the first round.
Only the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round shall participate in the second round.
In the event of the death of one of the candidates in the first round or of one of the two candidates in the second round, the candidacies shall be reopened and a new election date shall be set within a period not exceeding for
ty-five days. Withdrawals of candidacies in the first or second round shall not be taken into account.
If the elections cannot be held on the scheduled date because of war or imminent danger, the term of office of the President shall be extended by law until the causes that led to the postponement of the elections have ceased to exist.
It is forbidden to hold the office of President of the Republic for more than two full, consecutive or separate terms. In the event of resignation, the current term of office shall be considered a full presidential term.
Article 3 of the executive decree stipulates that candidates for the presidential election must be registered on the electoral roll, have Tunisian nationality and be of Muslim faith. Candidates must be at least thirty-five years of age on the day they submit their candidacy and must enjoy their civil and political rights.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse