Tunisia's electoral commission on Wednesday accepted the papers of 26 candidates, including two women and a number of prominent figures, for next month's presidential election.
Anis Jarboui, a member of the commission, said that candidates whose files were rejected because they did not meet the conditions of candidacy can appeal to the judiciary before the final announcement of the list of candidates on August 31.
The electoral law stipulates that the conditions of candidacy must be respected, the most important being a recommendation signed by ten thousand citizens, forty mayors, or ten deputies in parliament, in addition to a financial guarantee of ten thousand Tunisian dinars (3.5 thousand dollars), in addition to the certificate of Tunisian citizenship.
According to the Supreme Electoral Commission, the final number of applications for the presidential election stood at 97.
The September 15 snap election follows the death of President Beji Caid Essebsi last month.
The presidential campaign will run from September 2 to 13, while the same month will be the day of electoral silence.
This will be the third elections in Tunisia since the 2011 revolution that ended the rule of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and triggered the Arab Spring uprisings in several countries in the region.
The most prominent candidates for the post of President of the Republic are Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, former Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa, Abdel Fattah Moro, Vice President of Ennahdha and current Minister of Defense Abdel Karim Al-Zubaidi.
Other notable contenders include former President Moncef Marzouki and Nabil Karoui, a businessman and owner of a private television channel.
The Election Commission said the preliminary list of candidates included two women, Abir Moussa (head of the Tunisian Free Constitutional Party) and Salma Loumi (head of the Amal Party, who previously served as tourism minister and director of the presidential office).