Le Monde: Tunisian presidencies .. The three problems in the second round

There is still some uncertainty surrounding aspects of the second round of the presidential elections in Tunisia, after the first round on September 15 resulted in the victory of conservative lawyer Qais Said by 18.40% to television magnate Nabil Karoui by 15.58%, especially as all hopes are pinned On this crucial electoral process in promoting democratization in the cradle of "Arab revolutions" and the sole survivor of their countries.

French newspaper Le Monde said in an article by Frédéric Poppin that the ballot on the second round, the continued detention of candidate Nabil Karoui, and the influence of the legislature, among other things; are still growing doubts about the stage between the two rounds of Tunisian elections.

When is the second round?
Tunisia's administrative court on Monday dismissed six appeals filed by losing candidates in the first round, stating that the results of that round were mistaken because of the conditions of the campaign they consider unfair, or because of the violation of the rules of "political advertising", the newspaper reported.

The writer said that if the court had approved these or some of the appeals, it would have been possible to cancel the first round, which would poison the political climate, because it would be interpreted as a maneuver by some of the losing candidates coming from the "regime" in order to block the path of their competitors "from outside the system. "Happy and the villager.

It is likely that the next October 6 will be the date of the second round, unless there is an appeal against the rejection of these appeals, and therefore will be the date of October 13 is the most logical.

Does the villager remain in prison?
What would be the value of the second round if a de facto competitor was prevented from participating in the campaign? He said that this question is becoming more acute as Nabil Karoui is still being held in Mornaguia prison near Tunisia on charges of "tax evasion" and "money laundering", after he was arrested on 23 August.

He explained that Karoui, head of the Nessma TV channel, who uses controversial methods, has so far not met his requests for release by his lawyer, but rejected, where the indictment division of the Court of Appeal on September 3, and the Court of Cassation on the 13 of the same month , And the investigating judge on September 19, they were not eligible to rule on the requests for release from the village defense.

However, the writer believes that things could change this week, when a new hearing for the indictment section of the Tunis Court of Appeal was scheduled for Wednesday. Do you reconsider the verdicts in this case?

Because of the growing concern about the credibility of the results of the second round in the absence of the villager from the campaign, there is an attempt to search for solutions that respect the formal judicial procedures, according to the writer, according to a source close to one of the parties, "political contacts are going to lift this legal obstacle."

According to a source close to the Islamist party Ennahda, a partner in the outgoing ruling coalition, this party "supports" the exit of the villager from prison, without "exempting him from the charges that are hovering around him," because justice, in his opinion, "must take into account the will of the people. ".

However, the great difficulty is to reconcile the views of a party
The "heart of Tunisia" recently established by the villager and the "Long live Tunisia" party founded by Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, who suffered a severe loss in the first round with only 7.38% of the vote, especially since the villager since his imprisonment repeatedly condemned the responsibility of the witness and the renaissance of being thrown in prison To stop his progress in the elections, according to the writer.

Given what the ballot boxes showed, the writer wondered: Is it possible to reconcile the two brothers who come from the call of Tunisia, the villager and the witness, and what should the villager offer in exchange for his release? A source close to his party replied that "it can, for example, be committed not to retaliate."

What is the balance of power?
The writer said that the results of the first round gave rise to a new stream of opinion on the person of constitutional law expert Qais Said, who calls for the moral and religious preservation decorated with sovereignty, and who sees the local authority as a source of political legitimacy.

The candidate united an ideologically heterogeneous electorate, but shared one of two characteristics: he is either young or believes in returning to the inspiration for the 2011 revolution, and his chances of winning the second round are initially high, because the villager - although he benefited from the vote To the charity's humanitarian activity - it suffers from its distorted image due to accusations against its methods and practices.

However, the writer believes that the election schedule can help the villager to overcome some obstacles, especially as he can take advantage of the dynamics of the parliamentary elections if the second round on October 13, a week after the parliamentary elections on October 6.

This is because, according to the writer, because the lists of the Karoui party, "the heart of Tunisia," the polling stations predict a lot of votes in the ballot according to the intentions of the vote, while Qais Said does not provide any lists of his own for the parliamentary elections.