After an initial round of voting was held on the 15th of September, Tunisians had to head back to the polls to vote in a run-off between presidential candidates Nabil Karoui and Kais Saied.
The election took place on 13th of October, a week after parliamentary elections, which determined Tunisia’s head of government. Although the Tunisian president has fewer powers than the prime minister, who forms the government, he carries wide political influence.
The Playing Field
Media mogul Nabil Karoui was detained on money laundering and tax evasion charges for much of the campaign period. His detention was seen by some as politically motivated and was considered to have led to an uneven playing field.
In the build-up to the run-off, the moderate Islamist Ennhada party which is prominent in Tunisian politics endorsed Saied’s candidacy, boosting his chances.
By Numbers
Round one
- 26 candidates were registered to contest in the first round of the election.
- 45 per cent of the seven million eligible voters cast their votes.
- Kais Saied led the first round with 18.4 per cent of the votes followed by Nabil Karoui with 15.6 per cent.
Round Two
- 3.8 million (54 per cent) of the seven million eligible voters cast their vote in the election.
- Kais Saied won the presidential seat with 72.71 per cent of the votes cast, while Karoui received 27.29 per cent.
Saied, who ran as an independent candidate, campaigned to fight corruption and decentralise the government. However, with parliament’s supremacy over the presidency, Saied will have to work with a parliament where he has no representatives to deliver the changes he has promised – a feat that may be more difficult given the currentdivisions within the parliament.
