Polls open for Tunisian presidential election

Sun 15 September 2019:

About 13,000 polling stations opened on Sunday for the second democratic presidential elections in the history of Tunisia.

Dozens of people waited in front of the polling stations before they opened at 8 am local time to choose between the 26 candidates in the running.

While foreign attention, especially in Arab countries, is focused on the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, many Tunisians are watching the fate of media mogul Nabil Karoui, running from behind bars on suspicion of tax evasion, which he denies.

24 candidates, including two women, vying to replace the country’s late leader Beji Caid Essebsi who died in July.

The crowded field of 26 names was reduced slightly by the last minute withdrawals of two candidates.

Tunisia’s president controls foreign and defence policy and can also block legislation passed by parliament.

Candidates must secure 50 percent of the vote to win on Sunday, but if no single candidate obtains a majority, the two candidates with the most votes will advance to a second, decisive round.

Tunisia is the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Widespread discontent at economic hardship, decades of autocratic rule and corruption erupted into mass demonstrations in December 2010 after a street vendor set himself on fire when officials confiscated his cart.

The unrest led to the ousting in 2011 of President Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years.

Three years later, Tunisia’s parliament approved a new constitution, which detailed how the new democracy would be run.

The text was hailed by the United Nations as a “historic milestone”. Significant aspects included the recognition of equality between men and women, guaranteeing personal freedoms and splitting power between the president and prime minister.

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