Tunisia Votes in 2nd Round of Presidential Elections

Polling stations in Tunisia opened Sunday for the second round of the presidential elections.

More than seven million voters are choosing one of the two candidates, independent constitutional law professor Qais Said and his rival, businessman Nabil Karoui.

Said received 18.4% of votes in the first round of the presidential elections, while Karoui got 15.6%.

Last Sunday, Tunisia’s Polling stations opened for parliamentary elections to allow people to vote in the legislative elections.

Anis Jarboui, a member of the Independent High Electoral Commission (ISIE), said in a statement on Saturday that all procedures have been taken in cooperation with the National Army and the Ministry of Interior to secure polling stations.

Jarboui called on Tunisians to vote in the legislative elections, expressing his hope that the turnout will exceed the percentage recorded in the first round of the presidential elections held on September 15.

Noteworthy, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi died last July aged 92. The first round of the presidential election was scheduled on November 17, but due to the death of Essebsi on July 25, the ISIE decided to postpone it.

Essebsi won office in 2014. He emerged from retirement to seek the presidency at the age of 88, presenting his centrist movement as a bulwark against rising Islamic fundamentalism and political chaos that rocked Tunisia after the people’s revolt overthrew a longtime dictator and unleashed similar movements throughout the region.