A Tunisian court sentenced opposition party leader Lotfi Mraihi, a potential presidential election candidate, to eight months in prison on a charge of vote buying, his lawyer said on Friday.

The court also banned Mr Mraihi, leader of the Republican Union Party and one of the most prominent critics of President Kais Saied, from running in presidential elections for life, his lawyer Omar Ismail said.

Mr Mraihi will appeal the sentence, Mr Ismail added.

Opposition parties, many of whose leaders are in prison, have accused Mr Saied’s government of exerting pressure on the judiciary to crack down on his rivals in the 2024 elections and pave the way for him to win a second term.

Elected president in 2019, Mr Saied has not officially announced his candidacy for the vote expected to be held on Oct. 6.

Still, it is widely anticipated that he will seek a second term.

He said last year he would not hand power to what he called non-patriots.

The opposition says fair and credible elections cannot be held unless imprisoned politicians are released and the media can do its job without pressure from the government.

In 2021, Mr Saied dissolved parliament and began ruling by decree in a move the opposition described as a coup.

Mr Saied said his steps were legal and necessary to end years of rampant corruption among the political elite.

(Reuters/NAN)