TUNIS, Tunisia, Oct 8, (AP): President Kais Saied won a landslide victory in Tunisia's election Monday, keeping his grip on power after a first term in which opponents were imprisoned and the country's institutions overhauled to give him more authority. The North African country's Independent High Authority for Elections said Saied received 90.7% of the vote, a day after exit polls showed him with an insurmountable lead in the country known as the birthplace of the Arab Spring more than a decade ago.

"We’re going to cleanse the country of all the corrupt and schemers,” the 66-year-old populist said in a speech at campaign headquarters. He pledged to defend Tunisia against threats foreign and domestic. That raised alarm among the president's critics including University of Tunis law professor Sghayer Zakraoui, who said Tunisian politics were once again about "the absolute power of a single man who places himself above everyone else and believes himself to be invested with a messianic message.”

Zakraoui said the election results were reminiscent of Tunisia under President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who ruled for more than 20 years before becoming the first dictator toppled in the Arab Spring uprisings. Saied received a larger vote share than Ben Ali did in 2009, two years before fleeing the country amid protests. The closest challenger, businessman Ayachi Zammel, won 7.4% of the vote after sitting in prison for the majority of the campaign while facing multiple sentences for election-related crimes.

Yet Saied's win was marred by low voter turnout. Election officials reported 28.8% of voters participated on Oct 6 - a significantly smaller showing than in the first round of the country's two other post-Arab Spring elections and an indication of apathy plaguing the country's 9.7 million eligible voters. Saied’s most prominent challengers - imprisoned since last year - were prevented from running, and lesser-known candidates were jailed or kept off the ballot.

Opposition parties boycotted the contest, calling it a sham amid Tunisia’s deteriorating political climate and authoritarian drift. Over the weekend, there was little sign of an election underway in Tunisia apart from an anti-Saied protest on Friday and celebrations in the capital on Sunday evening.