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.