Tunisians vote for a new president

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during Tunisia's presidential election in Sousse in November. Picture: Anis Mili

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during Tunisia's presidential election in Sousse in November. Picture: Anis Mili

Published Nov 23, 2014

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Tunis -

Tunisians have lined up at polling stations to vote in their North African country's first free and open presidential election.

Sunday's vote marks the long awaited completion of a rocky transition to democracy after Tunisians electrified the region by overthrowing dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, kicking off the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings.

The front runner among the nearly two dozen presidential candidates is 87-year-old Beji Caid Essebsi, a veteran politician from the previous regime who has gained people support with talk of a return to stability after years of economic and political turmoil.

If no candidate gains an outright majority, the vote will go to a run off held in one month.

Alone among the countries of the Arab Spring, Tunisia's transition has remained on track. - Sapa-AP

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