Presidential elections will be held on time, Head of State says at meeting with ISIE president

All upcoming elections will be held on time, including the presidential elections, President Kais Saied stressed as he met Monday at Carthage Palace President of the Independent High Electoral Commission (ISIE), Farouk Bouasker, who presented him with the commission's activity report for 2022 and its financial report for the same year. "Those who called for a boycott of the elections to the Assembly of People's Representatives and the Council of Regions and Districts are preparing for the next election date by all means, because they only care about the presidency of the state". The latter have forgotten "their recent and distant past, which the people have not forgotten, and continue to hold public and secret meetings, forgetting that responsibility, whatever its degree within the state or outside its institutions, is a plague and a heavy burden, not a chair or a false prestige as they dream," the Head of State was quoted as saying in a Presidency statement. The President of the Republic said that all dea dlines had been met, from the date of the referendum to the date of the election of members of the Assembly of People's Representatives and the recent local council elections, which are the first stage in the establishment of the Council of Regions and Districts. The meeting discussed the need for all parties concerned to work together within the state, as 'it was unacceptable for a candidate to stand for election while being sentenced in absentia for belonging to a terrorist organisation and not having the sentence entered in the criminal record.' The President of the Republic stressed the need to apply the law to any violation, be it at the stage of submitting nominations, during the election campaign or on polling day. During this meeting, the financing of suspicious campaigns was also discussed. 'Corrupt money and those who have it want to infiltrate polling stations,' the Head of State was quoted as saying in a presidency statement. The President added that "elections can only be fair if we deal with corrupt people who still believe that they can lead voters by any means and they themselves are trying in every way to falsify minds by hiring desperate trumpets to direct public opinion". Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse