Tunisian presidencies continue to count and advance Said and Karoui

Tunisian presidential candidates Kais Said, Nabil Karoui and Abdel Fattah Moro, respectively, continued to stand ahead after counting 48% of the vote to 2:00 pm local time (0100 GMT), official results compiled by the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) showed Monday.

According to the results published by the commission on its official page on the social networking site Facebook, independent candidate Saeid received 18.8% of the vote, followed by the villager of the heart of Tunisia party with 15.4%, and Moro candidate of Ennahda with 13.2%.

These results are in line with the unofficial results of the election published by the Sigma Consai Agency, based on the exit polls.

Statistics from Sigma Konsai showed a run-off between candidates Qais Saeed and Nabil Karoui, while Abdel Fattah Moro came in third.

Political confirmation
Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Tunisia, Lotfi Hajji, said that there is a kind of political recognition of this result and attempts to draw lessons from what happened, especially since the financial, media and party lobbies were defeated in these elections.

A member of the Independent High Electoral Commission Adel al-Princesi of the island that the count reached 60%, noting that the expectations of opinion polls so far identical, and said that the second and third ranks are very close.

Speaking about the second round, he said that no candidate should get 50% of the votes, which means that this session could start on September 29 in the absence of any appeals or it will be on October 6. In the event of a single appeal, the presidential elections will be held in conjunction with the legislature. If there is more than one appeal, the elections will be held on October 13.

With this result, retired constitutional law professor Qais Saeed surprised the candidates of major parties in the early presidential elections.

Until recently, Saeed was not included in the ruling coalition's calculations as a serious contender in the presidential race against heavy caliber rivals such as Moro Renaissance party candidate, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and Defense Minister Abdelkrim Zubeidi.

But the 61-year-old, who advanced to the presidential race after collecting popular gestures, made spectacular leaps in polls during the election period, and the polling day dealt a knockout blow to his rivals.

According to polling firm Sigma Konsai, Said received 19.5 percent of the vote on polling day, ahead of his potential rival in the second round, arrested businessman Nabil Karoui, who received 14.5 percent.

Morrow won 11%, Zubaidi 9.4% and witness 7.5%, according to the poll.

Rise and turn
The rise of Qais Saeed and Nabil al-Qarawi represents a dramatic and dramatic shift in the political landscape that emerged following the first elections during the 2011 revolution, and a blow to the major political parties.

Unlike the main candidates on paper, Sa'eed's campaign did not have any flashes or street signs, but was marked by austerity, minimalism and volunteerism.

The candidate appeared surprised in most of his visits surrounded by his supporters in the cafes, mostly young and students, and had previously announced his rejection of any party or public funding.

Said does not have a political record or party affiliation, and until recently is not a well-known figure of the political class, and most of his activities are related to the Association of Constitutional Law, and has specialized writings in this area.

Sa'eed appeared mainly in media outlets as a specialist jurist after the 2011 revolution to explain constitutional dilemmas, but he became famous for his dazzling mastery of Arabic in communication using his Republican voice.

Saeed has maintained that feature in all his meetings, most recently in the television debate of presidential candidates.

"This is a new phase in Tunisia's history, as if it were a revolution, but a revolution with respect for the existing legitimacy," Said said at the time of the polls.

"What happened during the last days of the election campaign in the regions and cities shows that the Tunisian people are looking forward to a better future," Said said in a statement to the private Mosaique radio.

Not only did Saeed's victory in the polls surprise the political class, he also raised questions among media and communication theorists.

"The politician who is surprised by the victory of Qais Said, although no party behind him is a politician, did not realize that party-based deliberative democracy has faded to the point of disappearing, and that the current democracy in the world is a democracy of opinion," he wrote. He calls it the democracy of the masses. "

"This is what happened in Tunisia. Most people boycotted the parties and the media, and even a number of people in the West regard the parties as bandits."