Khamis Ben Brik-Tunisia

The "mystery" of the sweep of independent presidential candidate Qais Said continues to raise many questions among most Tunisians; his rise was surprising despite his lack of political belt and lack of institutional support, despite the lack of an electoral machine backed by the forces of economic and political influence, and despite his refusal to support the campaign-oriented state Elections, and his long absence from the media in recent months.

Dr. Said's success is attributed to "his bright image of youth associated with his loyalty to the revolution, his asceticism and authenticity."

He was able to pull the rug firmly from the emerging political parties to power after the revolution, including Ennahda, the largest organized party, relying on a group of young people with whom he worked in a small apartment during his election campaign, and on an old car that roamed the country.

The simple university professor, whom Tunisians knew after the revolution as an expert in interpreting constitutional law in his eloquent Arabic language, moved to the second round of the presidential elections by 18.4%, followed by the founder of the "Heart of Tunisia" party, Nabil Karoui, detained in the case of financial corruption by 15.58%.

Expected rise
Hassan al-Zarqouni, president of the Sigma Consai Foundation, which pre-empted the election commission's announcement with identical results, said his rise was "not at all surprising", recalling that all the results of the pre-election intentions put him at the top of the potential winners.

Not only that, Qais Said had a majority of voter confidence for at least four years, according to opinion polls conducted by his institution, but was met with a campaign of skepticism by parties that failed in the current elections; the reason is "to maintain a good image, especially among young people."

Analyzing the mass of voters who voted in favor of Qais Said, Hassan al-Zarqouni told Al Jazeera Net that most of them belong to the ranks of youth and university students "who lost confidence in all ruling parties after the revolution because of their failure to improve living conditions and eliminate manifestations of corruption and patronage."

The fulfillment of the revolution
Gaining voter confidence came from his image of their loyalty to the revolution and his conservative anti-inheritance tendency, rejecting the abolition of the death penalty and homosexuality, as well as his determination to consolidate local government by amending the constitution and involving citizens in decision-making through referendum.

For his part, the communication expert Sahbi Ben-Nablieh attributed the rise of Qais Said to the second round to his asceticism and the simplicity of his campaign free of manifestations of waste and flashiness and the attractiveness of his speech to the category of young people, who succeeded his campaign on the communication sites, and marketed his image without cost.

Mehdi Mabrouk, a sociologist and director of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, also agrees.``He does not rely on his literature and rhetoric, but on his image of many young people who see him as an ascetic, upright, loyalist, revolutionary, and biased people. ''

Calcified parties
What distinguishes Qais's electoral rise is his success in mobilizing the youth who were reluctant to vote, and considers it a "mere play" to reproduce the system itself, noting that the proposal presented by Ghazal those young people who are tired of false promises and credible programs.

Sahbi bin Nabliya told Al Jazeera Net that he benefited from maintaining his approach to defending the demands of the revolution, ascending to political positions, and refusing to make false promises, unlike the ruling and opposition parties that failed to improve the situation, and did not renew their political rhetoric commensurate with the demands of Tunisians.

He believes that the rise of Qais Said as a possible president reflects the emergence of a new political culture among voters who are tired of the traditional calcified parties, and the stereotype of the President of the Republic, and they make their choice on the basis of clean hand, integrity and social justice.

Chemical mixture
Although Qais Said was not known before the revolution by opposing the regime, participating in protests, or going on hunger strikes at the time, he reinforced his credibility among the youth by engaging with the forces of the revolution to overthrow the government of Mohamed Ghannouchi in 2011, and he remained true to the demands of the revolution.

To understand his appeal to young people, Mahdi Mabrouk tells Al Jazeera Net that the chemical mixture of his appeal is the result of a leftist and radical mix with an Arab-Islamic tendency, saying it is a missing mix between left-wing and moral conservatism.

It is expected that a second round of presidential elections in Tunisia will be held at the end of this month or early next month between the independent candidate and university professor Qais Said and the candidate of the "Heart of Tunisia" party, Nabil Karoui, who is in custody pending the issue of money laundering and tax evasion after the completion of the appeals period and the electoral campaign for the role. The second.