Amal Hilali - Tunisia
With the start of the countdown to the presidential elections scheduled for mid-June in Tunisia, the political scene is getting hotter and the conflict between rivals moves from programs to mutual accusations of treason and corruption, and a blatant revelation of the scenes of state administration.
The most rival rivals, such as Youssef Chahed, Abdel Karim Zubeidi and Salim Riahi, scrambled to accuse each other, turning some local media outlets into battlegrounds and a space to settle political scores.
The appearance of candidate Salim Riahi through the channel "Tunisian dialogue" controversy, who runs his election campaign from France and refuses to return to Tunisia because of judicial rulings against him.
Riahi Keel began accusations against yesterday's ally Youssef Chahed, related to financial and political corruption and attempted coup against the late President Beji Caid Essebsi, accusing him of trying to blackmail him with judicial files and adapting the judicial institution to serve his ambitions to stay in power.
Defense Minister Abdel Karim al-Zubaidi launched a ferocious attack on Youssef al-Shahed, accusing him of conspiring with Ennahda to remove President Beji Caid Essebsi from power through parliament during his illness.
Zubaidi said through the channel "Hannibal" that he "thwarted a coup attempt planned by the Nahda and the National Coalition in support of the witness," and that he explicitly threatened the Prime Minister if the plan continues to send two tanks in front of parliament to prevent the sessions and the entry of deputies.
He also accused the witness of exploiting the state apparatus and the capabilities of the military establishment to support his election campaign by traveling through military aircraft and wasting state funds.
The party "Heart of Tunisia" has accused the witness of being behind the process of putting Presidential candidate Nabil Karawi in prison and blatant interference in the judiciary, which the witness strongly denied, saying that the judiciary is independent.
Responses
In response to accusations against his party's presidential candidate, the political advisor to the prime minister considered that Yusuf al-Shahed was "targeted by thieves, smugglers and those who have judicial verdicts, after he has already launched the head of government in a campaign against the corrupt."
The campaign manager, Salim al-Azabi, had attacked the candidate Abdul Karim al-Zubaidi, accusing him of exploiting the human resources of the Ministry of Defense and evasive in announcing his resignation, calling on him to clarify his position.
In the face of the flow of mutual accusations, Ennahda leader Zubair al-Shahoudi said that "the battle of some presidential candidates will shift from the media platforms to the corridors of the judiciary, because of the serious accusations affecting the security of the state and the abuse of the authorities."
In a statement to Al Jazeera Net, Shahoudi expressed his fears of "the loss of the electoral compass and its repercussions on the democratic experience in Tunisia as a whole, who are originally statesmen for the old system."
The leader of the movement accused some presidential candidates of losing political morality and running the electoral campaign without anticipation of the consequences, and breaking the laws of the state and its components by disclosing secrets and allegations that may be invalid in order to overthrow political opponents.
Regulations
It is noteworthy that article 52 of the electoral law specified the rules of the election campaigns, and the need to respect the physical inviolability of the candidates, as well as criminalize the Nile of their symptoms and dignity. He called on the media to ensure neutrality and ensure equality and equal opportunities for candidates.
The member of the Electoral Commission Mohammed al-Tilili al-Mansri told Al Jazeera Net that the Commission is following up in coordination with the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication "Haika", violations recorded by some presidential candidates, to take place in a second stage to determine the sanctions during the decision on the results.
He pointed out that the electoral commission recorded violations since the beginning of the campaign related to the shredding of some of the candidates' comments, or suspended outside the specified places, and others related to electoral meetings without informing the Commission or without a visa.
The Haika decided to impose a fine on the private television channel "Al-Hiwar Al-Tunisi", after broadcasting the interview of candidate Slim Riahi, with the interview withdrawn from the website.
The Commission justified its decision with a set of violations of the electoral campaign controls of the candidates, which included dialogue and the words of defamation and counter propaganda against another candidate, and hit the principle of equality in media coverage.
For its part, warned the Journalist Ethics Committee of the Journalists Syndicate to "the danger of shifting the media during the current election campaign from the role of lighting public opinion, to a platform for political and financial lobbies to settle accounts in a way that could undermine the credibility of the media and threaten the transparency of the electoral process."