Tunisian establishment stunned as outsiders claim election win

TUNIS, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Law professor and political outsider Kais Saied is leading Tunisia‘s presidential polls with two-thirds of the votes counted, the electoral commission said, after the country’s second free vote for head of state since the 2011 Arab Spring.

Saied was on 18.9 percent on Monday night, ahead of imprisoned media magnate Nabil Karoui, who was on 15.5 percent, according to the electoral commission, ISIE.

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, a presidential hopeful whose popularity has been tarnished by a sluggish economy and the rising cost of living, could well turn out to be the election’s biggest loser.

ISIE figures showed him in fifth place with 7.4 percent of the vote, trailing both Ennahdha party candidate Abdelfattah Mourou and former defence minister Abdelkarim Zbidi.

A smiling Saied, receiving journalists at a rented apartment serving as his campaign offices, said voters had “carried out a revolution within a legal framework… They want something new… new political thinking”.

It was up to civil society and democracy at the local administrative level to resolve Tunisia’s social problems, he said, while defending his own reputation as a conservative.

“Tunisia has always been an open country. It’s a moderate society. I am open to all modern ideas. We can discuss it,” Saied said.

Saied is a conservative constitutionalist who has shunned political parties and mass rallies; instead, he opted to go door-to-door to explain his policies.

He has defended the death penalty, criminalisation of homosexuality and a sexual assault law that punishes unmarried couples who engage in public displays of affection.

Saied also advocates a rigorous overhaul of the constitution and voting system, to decentralise power “so that the will of the people penetrates into central government and puts an end to corruption”.

Local papers splashed photos of Saied and Karoui across their front pages on Monday.

“Political earthquake,” read the headline of Arabic language Echourouk newspaper, while Francophone Le Temps entitled its editorial “The Slap”.

The result was a major upset for Tunisia’s political establishment, in place since the uprising eight years ago that removed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

ISIE reported low turnout at 45 percent, down from 64 percent in the country’s first democratic polls in 2014.

Late Sunday, Chahed urged liberals and centrists to unite for legislative elections set for Oct 6, saying low participation was “bad for the democratic transition”.

Karoui, a 56-year-old media magnate, has been behind bars since August 23 on charges of money laundering.

Tunisia’s judiciary has refused to release him three times, but his lawyers said on Monday they would make a fourth request within 24 hours.

A controversial businessman, labelled a “populist” by critics, Karoui built his appeal by using his Nessma television channel to launch charity campaigns, handing out food aid to some of the country’s poorest.

The date of a second and final round between the top two candidates has not been announced, but it must be held by Oct 23 at the latest. It may even take place on the same day as the legislative polls. — NNN-AGENCIES