Presidential elections were held in Tunisia on Sunday. According to the exit poll, the incumbent president Kais Saied won it with a crushing margin of almost 90%. One of the two rival candidates – Ayachi Zammel – was convicted of electoral fraud last month and was in prison on the day of the vote. He claims that the evidence in his case was fabricated by the authorities.
Tunisia's electoral commission announced that the preliminary results of the presidential elections would be announced on Monday evening. According to survey In an exit poll conducted by the Sigma research agency, incumbent president Kais Saied won the elections, obtaining 89.2 percent. votes.
As the electoral commission announced after the polls closed, the turnout was only 27.7%. This is about half less than in the first round of the 2019 presidential elections. The head of the commission, Faruk Buasker, assessed the turnout as “decent”, even though it is the lowest result in the first round of the presidential elections in Tunisia since 2011.
President on “continuation of the revolution”
– This is a continuation of the revolution. We will build and cleanse the country of the corrupt, traitors and conspirators, Saied commented on state television on Sunday.
Supporters of the incumbent president started celebrating on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Saied stated that he would refrain from declaring victory until the official voting results are announced.
Before the vote, President Saied promised “an expedition (…) towards a new Tunisia” within the next five years. He added that his first term was devoted to the fight “against conspiratorial forces under foreign influence” “that have penetrated numerous public spheres and disrupted the implementation of hundreds of modernization projects.”
Two rivals, one in prison
President Saied competed with two rivals: Zuhair Maghzaui, a former member of the pan-Arab left, and Ajachi Zammel, a liberal industrialist who could not campaign because he had been in prison since the beginning of September. Last month, a Tunisian court sentenced the presidential candidate to one year and eight months in prison for falsifying electoral rolls. Zammel is also facing further sentences – for financial abuse during the election campaign. These accusations, Zammel said, were fabricated by Saied's government.
The remaining contenders, 66 in total, were removed from the lists by court judgments and administrative decisions of the electoral commission, questioned by organizations. human rights.
As Reuters reported, Zammel and Maghzaoui's staff rejected it exit poll results claiming that actual results will be different.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA