Tunisia has entered a period of electoral silence ahead of Sunday’s presidential election between three candidates, one of whom has been in prison for a month.

During this period of electoral silence, the Tunisian electoral law prohibits all forms of propaganda and media coverage of presidential candidates, parties and political actors supporting them.

It is also forbidden to broadcast or rebroadcast programmes related to the presidential election campaign, to broadcast, publish or circulate opinion polls, or to allocate a telephone number to advertise one of the candidates.

The electoral silence comes after three weeks of campaigning.
Incumbent President Kais Saied is running against former MP Ayachi Zemal, who was jailed for 12 years for forging signatures, and Zouhair Meghzawi, secretary general of the Popular Movement (a nationalist party).

More than 9.7 million Tunisians are eligible to vote in the presidential election, including 642,000 voters abroad.

Voters abroad are casting their ballots for the second consecutive day and voting will continue until tomorrow, Sunday, when voters at home go to the polls.