Search Site

Trends banner

TomTom cuts 300 jobs

The firm said it was realigning its organization as it embraces AI.

Aldar nets $953m in sales at Fahid

Aldar said 42 percent of the buyers are under the age of 45.

Qualcomm to Alphawave for $2.4 bn

The deal makes Alphawave the latest tech company to depart London.

Equinor signs $27 bn gas deal

The 10-year contract was signed with Centrica.

ADNOC Drilling secures $1.15bn contract

The contract for two jack-up rigs begins in the second quarter.

Tunisia’s Saied downplays puny poll turnout, slams critics

The president's power grab began in July last year, when Kais Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament, before he moved to seize control of the judiciary. (AFP)
  • Just 11.2 percent of registered voters took part in the December 17 polls for a neutered parliament, which capped Saied's overhaul of the political system
  • Turnout - initially announced at just under nine percent - was the lowest since the 2011 revolution that overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Tunis, Tunisia– Tunisia’s President Kais Saied on Wednesday played down massive abstention in this month’s parliamentary elections and slammed critics who have accused him of dragging the country towards dictatorship.

Just 11.2 percent of registered voters took part in the December 17 polls for a neutered parliament, which capped Saied’s overhaul of the political system since his sweeping power grab last year in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

Turnout – initially announced at just under nine percent – was the lowest since the 2011 revolution that overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and was seen as a blow to Saied and his political program.

“Turnout of nine percent or 12 percent is better than 99 percent in previous elections, which were welcomed by foreign countries even though they knew they were rigged,” Saied said in a monologue to his cabinet.

He then lashed out at unnamed critics, accusing such rivals of “drowning in corruption and treachery” and of “plotting against the state” and its “internal and external security”.

“This cannot continue, and these people cannot go unpunished,” he said, in a video posted on his office’s Facebook page.

The president’s power grab began in July last year, when he sacked the government and suspended parliament, before he moved to seize control of the judiciary.

Saied also accused unnamed detractors of being behind repeated shortages of basic goods in recent months, saying they aimed to “incite against institutions of the state”.

Saied denied accusations that human rights have been undermined in recent months, calling those who made such claims “mercenaries”.