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Tunisians Vote in Presidential Runoff Election Tunisians Vote in Presidential Runoff Election
(about 5 hours later)
TUNIS — Tunisians voted Sunday in the runoff of the country’s first free and democratic presidential election, drawing to an end the often turbulent transition period since the popular uprising of 2011. TUNIS — Supporters of Beji Caid Essebsi, a veteran statesman who served in the governments of both of Tunisia’s former dictators, celebrated his expected victory in Sunday’s presidential runoff as three exit polls showed him ahead of his rival, the interim president Moncef Marzouki, who did not concede defeat.
The race is between President Moncef Marzouki, 69, a doctor and human rights activist who has held the post of interim president for the past three years, and the favorite, Beji Caid Essebsi, the 88-year-old former cabinet minister who led the country briefly after the revolution. Mr. Essebsi, 88, appeared briefly on stage in front of his headquarters on Sunday night to salute Tunisians for the actions in 2011 that set off the Arab Spring and to thank them for their trust. He did not claim victory, although his campaign manager said early returns indicated he had won. A television channel, Nessma TV, which has supported Mr. Essebsi’s campaign, called the election in his favor.
Minutes after the polling places closed on Sunday, a spokesman for Mr. Essebsi claimed the campaign already had indications from exit polls that Mr. Essebsi was in the lead. Mr. Marzouki, meanwhile, said the tally remained too close to call. “The margin is minimal and the polls unreliable,” said his campaign manager and spokesman, Adnen Mansour.
“There are positive indications that Beji Caid Essebsi has won the presidency of the country,” the campaign manager, Mohsen Marzouk, said. “We congratulate all Tunisians that they finished the period of elections peacefully.” Three exit polls conducted by private Tunisian polling companies showed Mr. Essebsi in the lead with between 52 and 55 percent of the vote, and Mr. Marzouki trailing with between 44 and 47 percent. Official results were not expected before Monday.
Cheering crowds gathered at the parties’ offices as supporters set off fireworks in the street. Mr. Marzouki, 69, a former human rights activist and longtime opponent of Tunisia’s dictators, waved to supporters from the balcony of his party headquarters. He told them Tunisia had achieved the objective of the revolution by holding democratic elections and putting “an end to the ridiculous elections of the old regime,” a reference to votes that were often falsified under Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted in 2011.
Mr. Marzouki’s campaign advised caution, saying the results were too close to call. A win by Mr. Essebsi has been widely predicted, and would confirm the country’s shift away from the Islamist-led alliance that has led since then. At the very least, it would represent a rejection of the chaotic years under Ennahda, the main Islamist party, and Mr. Marzouki, which brought a rise in terrorism, crime and inflation and set off a yearning for security and stability.
“The margin is minimal, and the polls unreliable,” said Mr. Marzouki’s campaign manager and spokesman, Adnen Mansour. Mr. Essebsi seems to offer that, in spite of his links to the authoritarian past. He served as interior minister under Tunisia’s repressive first president, Habib Bourguiba, and as speaker of Parliament under Mr. Ben Ali. Yet he was considered acceptable enough to serve as interim prime minister after the revolt, and he led the country into its first free and democratic elections for the National Constituent Assembly in 2011.
Four years after Tunisians overthrew President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, setting off the Arab Spring, Tunisia has been singled out as the one Arab country that has succeeded in navigating a peaceful change. It passed a new Constitution and held well-run legislative and presidential elections over the past three months. Cheering crowds gathered outside Mr. Essebsi’s party headquarters within minutes of the polls’ closing on Sunday evening. Supporters set off fireworks in a shower of sparks as car horns honked.
Yet voters have expressed widespread frustration with the transitional government and Mr. Marzouki, and they have shifted their support toward Mr. Essebsi and his new party, Nidaa Tounes, or Call for Tunisia. Mr. Essebsi won the most votes in the first round of the presidential election on Nov. 23, receiving 39 percent to Mr. Marzouki’s 33 percent, and Nidaa Tounes won a plurality of 86 seats in October’s parliamentary elections. “I came to celebrate,” called out one woman. Asked if Mr. Essebsi had won, she answered, “Tunisia won!”
That expression of frustration with the interim government was still evident among voters in the working-class district of Jebel Jelloud in Tunis, the capital, on Sunday. Voters came on foot to the polls in a steady flow, without the excitement of Tunisia’s first free elections in 2011, but expressing hopes for a change for the better. Yet a driver, Mohamed Jouini, watched the crowd gloomily. “I am sad,” he said. “It is not that Essebsi won. He is Tunisian, he is one of us. But it is because nothing changed. I was out there four years ago, shouting, demonstrating, and nothing changed.”
“We need a president to bring security, to put an end to terrorism and bring back the authority of the state,” said Wassila Meziou, a secondary-school teacher. “We want our life to go back to how it was, because in the last three years it got really bad.” He said he came from one of the poorest neighborhoods of Tunis, the capital, and was a college graduate but earned just $5 to $10 a day. “There are the rich and there are the poor,” he said. “Those people celebrating are the rich. They have a house, a car and a salary.”
Rim Sassi, a homemaker who arrived at her polling place with her children, said: “We’ve had enough of this situation. We want a president to fix the problems, to bring employment for the young people and bring down the cost of living.” Tunisia has been singled out as the one Arab country that has navigated a peaceful change in the past four years, passing a new constitution and holding well-run legislative and presidential elections.
But the election has revealed deep divisions in the country. In the previous round, much of the capital and the population of the east coast voted for Mr. Essebsi, while the poorer southern part of the country and the interior voted for Mr. Marzouki, who is from the south. Yet voters have expressed widespread frustration with the transitional government and Mr. Marzouki, and shifted their support toward Mr. Essebsi and his party, Nidaa Tounes, or Call for Tunisia. Mr. Essebsi won the most votes in the first round of the presidential election, and Nidaa Tounes won a plurality of 86 seats in October’s parliamentary elections.“We need a president to bring security, to put an end to terrorism and bring back the authority of the state,” Wassila Meziou, a secondary-school teacher, said Sunday in the working-class district of Jebel Jloud in Tunis. “We want our life to go back to how it was, because in the last three years it got really bad.”
Moreover, while the main Islamist party, Ennahda, did not have a candidate in the presidential race and did not endorse any candidate, its supporters largely backed Mr. Marzouki. Many cited concerns that Mr. Essebsi served as interior minister in the repressive government led by Tunisia’s first president, Habib Bourguiba, and has members of the former government among his entourage. Rim Sassi, a homemaker, said: “We’ve had enough of this situation. We want a president to fix the problems, to bring employment for the young people and bring down the cost of living.”
But the election has revealed deep divisions. In the previous round of runoffs, much of the capital and the population of the east coast voted for Mr. Essebsi, while the poorer southern part of the country and the interior voted for Mr. Marzouki, who is from the south.
Moreover, while Ennahda did not have a candidate in the presidential race and did not endorse any candidate, its supporters have largely backed Mr. Marzouki. Many cite concerns about Mr. Essebsi’s links to the Bourguiba government.
“I voted Marzouki,” said a man wearing a traditional red cap in the district of Ben Arous. “First of all, I thought one of the candidates is a criminal and one is clean. We know the history.” Of Mr. Essebsi, he said, “We were raised under his torture under the orders of Bourguiba.” He said that he was a taxi driver and that his name was Ali, but he declined to give his surname, still cautious about talking openly about politics.“I voted Marzouki,” said a man wearing a traditional red cap in the district of Ben Arous. “First of all, I thought one of the candidates is a criminal and one is clean. We know the history.” Of Mr. Essebsi, he said, “We were raised under his torture under the orders of Bourguiba.” He said that he was a taxi driver and that his name was Ali, but he declined to give his surname, still cautious about talking openly about politics.
“We had a revolution because of people like this,” said another voter, Rabii Ben Ali, a bearded engineer with a multinational company. The revolution still has years more to run, he said. “The young people are with Marzouki. The person who will drive this country to revolution is not an old man.”“We had a revolution because of people like this,” said another voter, Rabii Ben Ali, a bearded engineer with a multinational company. The revolution still has years more to run, he said. “The young people are with Marzouki. The person who will drive this country to revolution is not an old man.”
In a recent report, Michael Ayari, director of the International Crisis Group in Tunisia, said: “Tunisia’s tenuous stability rests largely on the hesitation born of reciprocal fears.” In a recent report, Michael Ayari, director of the International Crisis Group in Tunisia, warned that Tunisia’s stability was tenuous because of its deep divisions. “Whoever wins the presidential election will have to work alongside the new government and Parliament to calm both camps’ anxieties, address their legitimate grievances and heal the country’s divisions,” the report said.
“Whoever wins the presidential election,” the report continued, “will have to work alongside the new government and Parliament to calm both camps’ anxieties, address their legitimate grievances and heal the country’s divisions.” Many voters were in fact not happy with either presidential candidate but were pragmatic about their choices. A businessman, Wagih Aloui, 31, said that Tunisia was not giving up on the ideals of the revolution but choosing a middle road between the controls of the old dictatorship and the freedoms of the revolution.
The turn toward Mr. Essebsi among the upper and middle classes and in the wealthier northern and coastal regions has led some analysts to suggest that the revolution is dead. Khalifa Chater, professor of history at Tunis University, suggested that it had never been a revolution that overturned the system, but merely a popular uprising that had died down. “It will be a fusion between dictatorship and freedom,” Mr. Aloui said. “If it goes back to repression, we have lost, but then we have to look how to win it back.”
Mr. Marzouki himself admitted that the “bourgeoisie,” who make up the bulk of Mr. Essebsi’s supporters, had never accepted the revolution.
Many supporters of the revolution are in fact not happy with either presidential candidate. Members of the left, longtime opponents of the dictatorship yet also fierce opponents of the Islamists allied with Mr. Marzouki, are divided, and their party leaders suggested that they cast a blank ballot.
Others were pragmatic. A businessman, Wagih Aloui, 31, said Tunisia was not giving up on the ideals of the revolution but choosing a middle road between the controls of the old dictatorship and the freedoms of the revolution. “It will be a fusion between dictatorship and freedom,” Mr. Aloui said. “If it goes back to repression, we have lost, but then we have to look how to win it back.”