Tunisia's President Kais Saied on Wednesday played down the huge abstention in this month's parliamentary elections and slammed critics who have accused him of dragging the country towards dictatorship.
Only 11.2 per cent of registered voters took part in the December 17 polls for a weakened Parliament, which capped Mr Saied's overhaul of the political system since his sweeping power grab last year in the birthplace of the Arab uprisings.
Turnout, initially announced at just under nine per cent, was the lowest since the 2011 uprising that overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and was regarded as a blow to Mr Saied and his political programme.
"Turnout of nine per cent or 12 per cent is better than 99 per cent in previous elections, which were welcomed by foreign countries even though they knew they were rigged," he told his Cabinet.
Mr Saied then lashed out at unidentified critics, accusing them 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.
Mr Saied also accused detractors of being behind repeated shortages of basic goods in recent months, saying they aimed to "incite against institutions of the state".
He denied accusations that human rights have been undermined in recent months, calling those who made such claims "mercenaries".
Business Insights
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THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Brief scores:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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