‘Robocop’ poised to win presidency
A conservative, Islamistbacked law professor looked set to assume Tunisia’s presidency after polling agencies suggested he overwhelmingly won yesterday’s runoff election in the country that unleashed the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings.
Kais Saied’s supporters exploded with joy, celebrating on the main boulevard of Tunis, and Saied thanked his supporters and announced plans to travel to neighbouring Libya and Algeria and to champion the Palestinian cause.
Official results of the topsy-turvy election – in which Saied’s rival, Nabil Karoui, spent most of the campaign behind bars – weren’t expected until tomorrow.
The winner inherits a North African country struggling to create jobs, revive tourism and overcome sporadic extremist violence – but proud of its still-budding democracy. This is only Tunisia’s second free presidential election.
Polls carried in Tunisian media by Sigma Conseil and Emhrod Consulting forecast that Saied would come out on top with between 72% and 77% of the votes. Media magnate Karoui was projected to win between 23% and 27%.
The polling agencies questioned several thousand people in person in various constituencies on voting day. Emhrod Consulting said its poll had a margin of error of two percentage points, while Sigma Conseil said its margin of error was 1.5 points.
Saied, 61, is an independent outsider but is supported by moderate Islamist party Ennahdha, which won last week’s parliamentary elections. He promised to overturn Tunisia’s governing structure, handing more power to young people and local governments.
‘‘A new page in history is turning,’’ he told reporters in Tunis after the polls came out.
A former constitutional law professor, Saied promised to uphold Tunisia’s post-revolution constitution, saying, ‘‘No one will be above the law.’’
Despite the backing of Ennahdha, he described himself as politically neutral.
‘‘I am independent and will remain so until the end of my life,’’ he said during the campaign.
Firmly conservative, Saied opposes equal inheritance rights for daughters and sons, arguing that the hot-button issue is decided by the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
With poker-straight posture, a blank visage and a staccato speaking style – in literary Arabic inaccessible to many in the rural interior – he has been assigned the nickname ‘‘Robocop.’’