Thirty-four Tunisian lawmakers submitted a bill on Friday seeking to amend the country’s election oversight mechanisms by removing the independent Administrative Court’s ability to rule on electoral disputes. This proposal comes ahead of the presidential election scheduled for October 6, 2024, and aims to shift jurisdiction to the general appellate courts for election result challenges.

The bill’s stated aim is to “unify the judicial framework for settling electoral disputes” by converging all responsibility to the general appellate courts. According to local media, if passed, the new law would require all all election related disputes to be filed with Tunisia’s intermediate and high court within 48 hours of the contested outcome.

Currently, Tunisia’s Constitution provides for an independent Administrative Court, which has jurisdiction over administrative disputes, including those related to government power and elections. The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) is the government body responsible for organizing and supervising elections in Tunisia, and part of the Administrative Court’s function is to ensure the ISIE fulfills its mandate fairly. Meanwhile, the general courts handle civil and criminal matters, and under this proposed bill, would also be tasked with adjudicating electoral issues.

Tensions have escalated with the upcoming presidential election, with human rights groups criticizing recent government arrests of opposition members and journalists. The proposed bill follows a controversial incident where the Administrative Court reinstated three presidential candidates who had been disqualified by the ISIE. The ISIE rejected the court’s ruling and approved three different candidates, including the current incumbent President, while barring 14 others.

Tunisia held its first democratic elections in 2014 after the Arab Spring but experienced a political shift in 2021 when President Kais Saied dismissed the sitting government and announced that he would assume executive authority and rule by decree. He subsequently dissolved the Superior Council of the Judiciary, which had been established under the 2014 Constitution to ensure judicial independence. The courts continue to this day without a Superior Council.

In 2022, constitutional amendments that significantly expanded presidential powers were put to a national referendum, which was boycotted by most of the opposition in the country and subsequently approved. Tunisia’s judicial independence and civil freedoms have been called into question since the president started ruling by decree in 2021. Human Rights Watch described Saied as “wield[ing] almost unchallenged power after eliminating nearly all institutional checks and balances on executive power”. These criticisms remain ongoing after recent crackdowns.