Exit polls: Independent academic wins Tunisia's presidential vote

Tunisian law professor Kais Saied speaks to the reporters and supporters Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019 in Tunis. Saied looked set to assume Tunisia's presidency after polling agencies suggested he overwhelmingly won Sunday's runoff election in the country that unleashed the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings. File photo: AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy.

Tunisian law professor Kais Saied speaks to the reporters and supporters Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019 in Tunis. Saied looked set to assume Tunisia's presidency after polling agencies suggested he overwhelmingly won Sunday's runoff election in the country that unleashed the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings. File photo: AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy.

Published Oct 14, 2019

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Tunis - Independent law professor Kais Saied has overwhelmingly

won Tunisia's presidential run-off that was held Sunday as the North

African country grapples with economic and security challenges,

according to a polling agency.

Saied has secured 72.53% of the vote against 27.47%

for media mogul Nabil Karoui, the polling firm Emrhod Consulting

added, citing exit polls.

It has been less than a decade since Tunisia, the origin of the

2010-11 Arab Spring revolts, toppled its long-time autocratic

government in favour of democratic elections.

Social unrest, militant attacks and an economic slowdown have

afflicted the country on its fledgling democratic path. The

unemployment rate is about 15%.

Saied, 61, declared his victory, calling it a "revolution within the

constitutional legitimacy."

Speaking at a press conference in Tunis Sunday night, he pledged to

honour Tunisia's international obligations.

"We are aware of the size of responsibility and realize what the

state means," added Saied who has no political experience.

"Today, we are trying to build a new Tunisia," he said.

Thousands of Saied's backers celebrated his reported win in central

Tunis.

The conservative academic appeals mainly to young Tunisians

disenchanted with politicians whom they accuse of failing to improve

their post-uprising lives.

The official result of the run-off is expected by Tuesday.

Video: Kim Kay/African News Agency

The turnout in Sunday's election stood at 57.8% after 70% of the ballot was counted, the electoral commission said at a

press briefing.

About 7.2 million people were registered to vote in Sunday's 10-hour

polling.

Saied has campaigned to fight corruption and support

decentralization.

Karoui, 56, presents himself as an advocate of Tunisia's poor and

marginalized as the head of the recently founded centre-left Party of

Qalb Tounes (Heart of Tunisia).

Both had topped the election's first round on September 15, defeating

contenders from mainstream political parties.

The two political outsiders' electioneering has been very unusual,

with Karoui having been released only four days before the final

round.

Saied has kept a low profile since the first round and later

announcing that he would stop campaigning for "ethical reasons"

related to the lack of equal opportunity between the two candidates.

The presidential election, originally scheduled for November, was

pushed forward by the death of Tunisia's first democratically elected

president, Beji Caid Essebsi, in July, five months before the end of

his term.

Last week, Tunisia held its legislative elections, in which Karoui's

party came second with 38 seats, while the moderate Islamist Ennahda

movement has emerged as the strongest force with 52 seats in the

217-member parliament.

With no clear majority at the fractious parliament, Ennahda is

expected to face a tough challenge in forming a new government.

dpa

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