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Ex-Cabinet Minister Wins Tunisian Presidential Runoff Ex-Cabinet Minister Wins Tunisian Presidential Runoff
(about 5 hours later)
TUNIS — Beji Caid Essebsi, an 88-year-old former cabinet minister, has won Tunisia’s first free and democratic presidential elections in a runoff, the country’s election commission reported on Monday. TUNIS — Beji Caid Essebsi, an 88-year-old former cabinet minister, won Tunisia’s first free and democratic presidential election in a runoff, the country’s election commission announced Monday.
Mr. Essebsi received 55.68 percent of the vote, and his rival, the interim president, Moncef Marzouki, got 44.32 percent in the election on Sunday, the commission reported. Turnout was 60 percent of registered voters, but only 3.2 million people out of an eligible eight million cast a ballot. Mr. Essebsi received 55.68 percent of the vote, and his rival, the interim president, Moncef Marzouki, got 44.32 percent in the election on Sunday, the commission reported.
Mr. Essebsi served as interior minister under Tunisia’s repressive first president, Habib Bourguiba, and as speaker of Parliament under Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted in 2011. Despite links to the country’s authoritarian past, Mr. Essebsi served as interim prime minister after the revolt and led the country into its first free and democratic elections for the National Constituent Assembly in 2011. Mr. Essebsi served as interior minister under Tunisia’s repressive first president, Habib Bourguiba, and as speaker of Parliament under Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted in 2011. Despite links to the country’s authoritarian past, he served as interim prime minister after the revolt and led the country into its first free and democratic elections for the National Constituent Assembly in 2011.
As expected, Mr. Essebsi won constituencies in the capital and eastern coastal towns. Mr. Marzouki made strong gains in his native south, with as much as 80 percent of the vote in some places. Mr. Marzouki conceded defeat through a message on Facebook. His campaign manager, Adnen Mansour, posted a message saying that Mr. Marzouki had congratulated Mr. Essebsi. Mr. Marzouki also appealed for calm in the south and for people to preserve national unity.
The south is poor, and it is the most marginalized part of the country. Analysts have warned that the winner of the election would need to prevent greater alienation and possible unrest. As expected, Mr. Essebsi won electoral districts in much of the north, including the capital Tunis and the eastern coastal towns. Mr. Marzouki made strong gains in his native south, with as much as 80 percent of the vote in some places.
Reports of violence in the southern town of El Hamma between Mr. Marzouki’s supporters and the police, including photographs of empty streets littered with rocks and smoke, circulated on social media forums on Monday. The south is poor, and it is the most marginalized part of the country. Analysts have warned that the winner of the election would need to work to prevent greater alienation and possible unrest there.
There were reports of clashes between Mr. Marzouki’s supporters and the police in the southern town of El Hamma on Sunday evening when exit polls indicated that Mr. Essebsi was likely to win. Photographs and video of empty streets littered with rocks and smoke, circulated on social media forums. Security forces responded with tear gas when protesters burned tires and tried to attack a police station, Mohamed Ali Aroui, an interior ministry spokesman, said. On Monday, additional clashes were reported in several other southern towns.
The protest group, Takriz, which means anger in Arabic, posted messages and videos of the violence on its Facebook page. “We want another revolution and we want to separate the south from the north,” read one post from the town of Kebili. “We refuse democracy if it brings in Essebsi,” read another from Gabes.
Mr. Essebsi reached out to Mr. Marzouki and his supporters on Sunday evening, even before the results were confirmed. “I want to send my regards to Moncef Marzouki and tell him that the outcome of today does not matter as much as what we can offer for the benefit of the country today and tomorrow.”
He also praised the people who took part in the popular uprising of 2011 that sparked the Arab Spring and the 300 who died during the revolution. “I am happy with the great people whose actions fascinated the world on 17 December and 14 January and today,” he told a crowd of supporters on the street outside his party headquarters. “We should always remember our martyrs who are the reason we are here today. Give them our respect and veneration.”
Mr. Essebsi, whose anti-Islamist Nidaa Tounes party won a plurality in the new parliament in elections in October, and will lead the new government, has insisted that he will seek to collaborate with other parties. Among possible coalition partners are the main Islamist party, Ennahda, which holds the second largest bloc of seats in the parliament.
“Tunisia faces major challenges concerning security, the economy, and terrorism,” said Aida Klibi, a spokeswoman for Nidaa Tounes. “We are in the service of the people and we need the help of others. We cannot work alone in this.”