Lotfi Mraihi, the leader of an opposition group in Tunisia who declared his intention to compete in the October presidential election, has been detained by police on charges of money laundering.

One of President Kais Saied’s most vocal opponents, Mraihi, who is also the head of the Republican Union Party, was taken into custody late on Friday, according to officials and the local media.

Earlier this week, a spokeswoman for the Tunisian court announced that Mraihi was being charged with money laundering and creating bank accounts overseas without obtaining a central bank licence.

Mraihi’s arrest coincides with accusations from opposition parties, many of whose leaders are behind bars, that Saied’s administration is pressuring the courts to find Saied’s opponents in the 2024 elections and clear the path for him to win a second term.

Saied, who was elected president in 2019, is anticipated to run for reelection on October 6th, however, he has not yet formally declared his candidacy. He declared last year that he would not cede authority to anyone he deemed to be an outsider.

Prominent candidate and Free Constitutional Party leader Abir Moussi has been imprisoned since the end of the previous year on allegations that he compromised public safety.

According to Moussi’s party, her imprisonment was done to keep her out of the election and prevent a formidable opponent. The authorities refute this.

Safi Saeed, Nizar Chaari, and Abd Ellatif Mekki are among the other candidates being prosecuted for alleged offences like money laundering and fraud. Prosecution is also pending against Mondher Znaidi, a well-known prospective contender residing in France, on charges of financial corruption.

Notable opponents of the president have been detained since last year on accusations of plotting against state security, in a crackdown that has included businessmen, media figures, and politicians. The opposition claims that unless imprisoned politicians are released and the media is free to operate without interference from the government, no fair or credible elections can be place.

Saied claimed his actions were legal and necessary to end years of widespread corruption among the political elite. In 2021, he dissolved parliament, seized almost all powers, and began ruling by decree.

The incumbent energy minister will be the running mate to Ghana’s vice president, Mahamudu Bawumia, on the platform of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in December’s presidential election.

In January 2025, President Nana Akufo-Addo will leave office after fulfilling the eight years required by the constitution. Though none of the ruling parties have ever won more than two terms in a row, they are frequently regarded as favourites to win presidential elections in Ghana.

The decision by Bawumia to select Matthew Opoku Prempeh, a Christian, legislator, and doctor from the heavily populated Asante region of Ghana, carries on a long-standing custom in which the two major political parties select running mates from disparate religious and ethnic backgrounds to promote unity and win over more voters.

The 61-year-old economist and former central banker Bawumia was chosen by the NPP to run for president in November of last year, setting up a race against the comeback-seeking former president John Dramani Mahama.

Both Mahama and Bawumia are from the Muslim-majority north of Ghana, which is less economically developed than the country’s southern areas. Prempeh, 56, oversaw President Akufo-Addo’s free senior high school policy while serving as minister of education from 2017 to 2020. The initiative was criticized for being inadequately carried out.

The blunt politician, a member of parliament since 2008 and a member of the Asante royal family from Ghana was appointed to head the Ministry of Energy in January 2021.

Since then, he and his party have been enmeshed in a rising energy crisis that Mahama’s National Democratic Congress party was criticized for not being able to resolve when it was in office.

Bawumia is not just the first individual from outside the dominant Akan-speaking ethnic group to lead the NPP, but also the first Muslim leader of a major party in Ghana since 1992. By selecting Prempeh, he hopes to revitalize the NPP in the Asante area, where dissatisfaction has been stoked by claims of little chances for party members.

As his running partner for his third bid at the presidency, Mahama has chosen Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, a literature professor from central Ghana and a former minister of education.