Beji Caid Essebsi (88), a veteran of Tunisia’s political establishment, won the country’s presidency, according to official results issued on Monday, capping a four-year-long democratic transition.
Mr. Essebsi campaigned on restoring the “prestige of the state” and a return to stability from the years of turmoil that followed this North African country’s 2011 overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali that kicked off the regional pro-democracy uprisings of the Arab Spring.
Mr. Essebsi, who received 55.68 percent of the vote, once served as Ben Ali’s speaker of Parliament and before that was both Foreign and Interior Minister for his predecessor, Habib Bourguiba.
Voting was largely pronounced free and fair, with a participation rate of 60 per cent, less than the nearly 70 per cent in the previous round and in recent legislative elections. — AP
