Tunisia holds first post-revolution presidential elections
Tunis, Nov. 24, (Xinhua) — Tunisian voters headed to tens of thousands of polling centers nationwide early on Sunday to choose the country’s first elected president since the social upheavals of December, 2010 and January 2011.
Over the past three years under a temporary transitional government, a new constitution was written, and the first parliament in the post-turmoil period was also held.
The Nidaa Tounes party, which did not participate in the constitutional elections, won the majority of the parliament’s seats, while the Islamist party of Ennahdha, former winner of the constitutional elections, came second. Although a potential alliance between the two parties is a future possibility once the results of the presidential elections are revealed, they still remain rivals at the moment.
“I’m taking my wife and older kids later to the polling center in our neighborhood to vote for Essebsi,” said Hedi Yahyaoui, a taxi driver. “We want Nidaa Tounes to win because the Islamists had their chance and they failed,” he added.
“There is no way I’m voting for Essebsi!” said Nabil Laabidi, a waiter in Tunis. “I’m voting for Moncef Marzouki, because I don’t want to see former regime figures in power again. It’s a real threat,” he told Xinhua.
Leader and presidential candidate of Nidaa Tounes Beji Caid Essebsi, who served as an interim prime minister right after former President Ben Ali fled the country, was parliament speaker under President Ben Ali.
Ennahdha party has no official presidential candidates. However, many Ennahdha supporters declared their support for Moncef Marzouki, who was assigned as Tunisia’s interim president in December, 2011. The main criticism which faces Marzouki was his performance during the past three years, especially when dealing with several security violations, terrorism threats and diplomacy.
During a protest on Saturday, parents and family members of Tunisians imprisoned in Syria and other countries abroad held Marzouki responsible for the lack of cooperation with foreign authorities over the issue.
“When the war started in Syria, Marzouki kicked out the Syrian ambassador which ruined our relations with the Syrian authorities. Now we don’t know who to deal with to bring back our sons,” said Mahfoudh Balti, a protester in Saturday’s demonstration.
Tunisia’s new constitution defines its political system as semi- presidential, under which the parliament has crucial powers in decision-making, while the president is in charge of national security, defense, and foreign relations. However, despite these limited tasks, the president has the power to dissolve the parliament.
On Sunday, head of the Elections Board Chafik Sarsar announced that the current turn out is lower than the legislative elections, which was around 70 percent.
As the voting process is still underway, the final results and potential following scenarios remain unclear. Results of the legislative elections have, however, influenced the presidential polls. The victory of Nidaa Tounes party represents a shift in political powers, according to analysts.
Zied Laadhari, spokersperson for Ennahdha, stated on Friday that his party is open to negotiations and future coalitions. But they are not suggesting any initiatives yet.
Tunisian security forces were heavily deployed near polling centers and around the country. Around 100,000 armed security agents, from the army, police and national guard, in addition to anti-terrorism units, were summoned to ensure the safety of voters and the success of the voting process, said Mohamed Ali Aroui, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry.
The preliminary results are to be announced within the next few days. According to the latest polls, the votes for several candidates might be very close. In such a case, a second round will be held. However, the date will only be revealed after the announcement of the final results of the first round.