Tunisia presidential candidates receive death threats

Two Tunisian presidential candidates have reportedly received direct death threats from militants ahead of the upcoming poll on 23 November.

Independent candidate Mondher Zenaidi and head of the Free Patriotic Union of Slim Riahi said on Wednesday they had been notified by the Tunisian security agencies about direct threats allegedly made by the militant group Ansar Beit al-Sharia.

In response to the threats, Zenaidi vowed to continue his campaign and said in a tweet there is “no fear” despite the threats.

"The best way to respond to terrorist threats and criminal acts is to continue to work and to communicate with people in the field, to convince them of the necessity of participating in the elections, and to choose who is able to serve as president above parties and affiliations," he said, according to Tunisian daily Magharebia.

Riahi also confirmed that he would continue his presidential campaign but cancelled some campaign trips and changed his residence and vehicles, according to the daily.

A total of 27 candidates are set to compete for the role of president, with former Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, 87, widely tipped as one of the frontrunners.

Essebsi is the head of the Nidaa Tounes party, which won October's general election. A former prime minister under ousted the President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Essebsi has managed to reinvent himself as a safe pair of hands who wants to promote Tunisia as a liberal, democratic and crucially secular.

Several other Ben Ali-era officials are also running, including former central bank governor Mustapha Kamel Ennabli and ex-foreign minister Kamel Morjane.

Other contenders include incumbent Moncef Marzouki, a rights activist who was exiled under Ben Ali and was installed as interim president at the end of 2011.

The only woman candidate is long-time Ben Ali opponent and magistrate Kalthoum Kannou. 

Many Tunisians reacted to the assassination attempt reports of with dismay, encouraging the contenders to continue their campaigns.

“All the threats and violence are an attempt to derail the electoral process,” said Malika Banani, a 27-year-old student at the University of Tunis.

“We hope the elections will be carried out peacefully and that these threats stop any of our candidates from continuing in their path,” she said.

Observers, however, dismissed the reports that claimed the threat was directed at specific to particular candidates, saying that terrorist threats against presidential candidates had been prevalent.

“There have been threats made toward all the presidential candidates. The ministry of interior has not made any statement singling out specific candidates,” said Ala Zaatour, a Tunis-based journalist.

“Instead, when speaking to the ministry they confirm that all the presidential candidates are being tightly secured by the authorities to ensure their safety,” he told MEE.

Interior minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou on Wednesday revealed the existence of serious militant threats on the eastern and north-western borders. He stressed that the ministry would work to protect the upcoming presidential election, just as it had secured the parliamentary poll in October.

“These candidates speaking to the media about threats specific to them, could be seen as using the violence as a political tactic to garner electoral support for the elections,” Zaatour explained.

The authorities have voiced fears that extremists might try to disrupt Tunisia political transition, including a 23 November presidential election.

“According to Tunisian law, if any incidents were to happen the electoral process would have to be halted and started all over again,” Zaatour told MEE. “The violence puts the successful completion of the elections at risk.”

Dozens of police and military personnel have been killed in attacks by Islamist militants since the 2011 uprising against Ben Ali. Security forces have since cracked down on militant groups close to the border with Algeria, although attacks have continued. 

Five soldiers were killed and ten others injured in a gun attack by suspected militants on a bus in north-western Tunisia on 5 November.

The defence ministry branded the attack a "terrorist operation".

Violence also rocked Tunisia ahead of the parliamentary elections, with two Tunisian National Guard members killed in clashes with militants in an outlying suburb of the capital Tunis.