Tunis: I Watch organisation announced that it has reported violations that would affect the right to run for elections, calling on the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) to “shoulder its full responsibility in ensuring a neutral and independent electoral climate during the remaining period of the acceptance of candidacies, by respecting the principle of equality and equal opportunities for potential candidates.”

The organisation considered in a statement on Tuesday that the ISIE’s silence regarding what it described as “the harassment to which a number of potential candidates and their representatives are subjected by some state structures during the process of collecting endorsements, despite being responsible for the proper conduct of the electoral process, is an indication that it does not deal impartially with all potential candidates,” according to its assessment.

The failure to provide a number of candidates with a criminal record clearance card (Bulletin No. 3) “is the involvement of sta
te structures, especially the Interior Ministry, in denying a number of potential candidates their right to run, and is a violation of the principle of impartiality of the administration,” according to the statement.

ISIE President Farouk Bouasker confirmed in a media statement on Monday that the authority is in constant coordination with the Ministries of Interior, Justice and Finance and all election-related stakeholders to facilitate the process of extracting documents and facilitating candidacy procedures for every Tunisian citizen who meets the legal and regulatory conditions to obtain a document, and who has the right to get it from any administrative body.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse