TUNIS, Tunisia — As Tunisians prepare for back-to-back legislative and presidential elections, news first revealed by Al-Monitor has had a bombshell effect: A purported emissary of imprisoned presidential candidate Nabil Karoui signed a $1 million lobbying contract to secure a meeting with President Donald Trump, among others.
Karoui’s newly formed Qalb Tounes (Heart of Tunisia) party is leading in the polls for Sunday’s legislative elections. The jailed businessman's rivals are demanding that he be disqualified from a presidential runoff that is set to be held Oct. 13. One rival, the Democratic Current party, filed a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor today at the Tunis Court of First Instance, calling the contract with Canadian firm Dickens & Madson a criminal act.
