The results arrived. The second round of the presidential election in Tunisia will oppose independent academic Kais Saied and the businessman currently in prison Nabil Karoui, announced Tuesday the Electoral District (Isie). According to official results, Mr. Saied got "18.4%" votes and Mr. Karoui "15.58%", said the president of Isie, Nabil Baffoun, at a press conference.
Both men illustrate the turmoil of the political scene in the pioneering Arab Spring country. Kais Saied is a 61-year-old scholar without a party or structure, discreetly entered the political scene while his opponent, Nabil Karoui, is a jailed businessman and founder of the private television channel Nessma. one of the main ones of the country.
Exit the representatives of the power of the post-revolutionary years: the Islamist-inspired formation Ennahdha, main force in the Parliament and who had presented for the first time a candidate, saw Abdelfattah Mourou arrive third with 12,88% of the votes, confirming the erosion of its electorate since 2011. As for the outgoing Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, he finished in a very modest 5th place (7.4%).
A first "transparent" round according to the European Union
The EU observation mission deployed in Tunisia on Tuesday said that the first round of the presidential election was "transparent", while regretting that candidates could not campaign in reference to Nabil Karoui. He was arrested on August 23, 10 days before his election campaign on charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
Seven million voters were called on Sunday to decide between 26 candidates for the first round of the poll, which was held against the background of economic and social crisis and in a context of rejection of traditional political elites.