By RFIPosted on 05-10-2019Modified on 05-10-2019 at 19:11

A week before the second round of the Tunisian presidential election, the candidate at the top of the first round, Kaïs Saïed, announces that he will not campaign for the sake of equality, his opponent being imprisoned.

Candidate came first in the first round of the Tunisian presidential election, Kais Said had remained quiet these past few weeks. He now goes further and refuses to campaign for the second round. The independent lawyer explains it " for moral considerations in order to avoid any ambiguity concerning the equality of chances between the candidates "

His rival, Nabil Karoui, has been jailed since 23 August on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering. Many voices, including that of the president of Isie, the poll watchdog, have come to demand a release of the television man.

Equal opportunities ?

The gesture of Kaïs Saïed is part of an approach of equality even if he himself says that " equality of opportunity should be apprehended by the means available to each candidate ." And to add: " These means were in fact unevenly unequal " in reference to the sums spent by his opponent and the propaganda provided by his television channel Nessma.

This original initiative certainly reinforces the image of righteousness released by Kaïs Saïed, but it also sets the stage for possible recourse that teams Nabil Karoui may file in case of defeat of their champion. Relatives of the imprisoned businessman are already saying that it will be easy for them, with a candidate in prison, to demonstrate before an administrative tribunal the lack of equality of opportunity surrounding the vote.

► To read also: One austere, the other exuberant: Tunisians must choose their president

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