Kais Saied sworn in as Tunisia’s president
Kais Saied, a political outsider and retired law professor, was sworn in as Tunisia’s president yesterday after he won a landslide victory in this month’s election.
Mr Saied’s win was a heavy blow to a governing elite accused of failing to improve living standards or end corruption since the 2011 revolution.
A conservative academic with no previous political experience, Mr Saied won the overwhelming support of younger voters in an October 13 run-off.
The poll followed the death in July of Beji Caid Essebsi, Tunisia’s first president freely elected by universal suffrage.
Mr Saied has a clear mandate to fight corruption and promote social justice, although his role focuses on security and diplomacy.
Tunis, which chairs the Arab League, could renew diplomatic ties with Syria, severed since 2012, and play a role in the return to the bloc of the war-torn country.
Mr Saied has made strong statements against Israel, considering any ties with the country to be “high treason” – an Arab nationalist position that earned him praise among supporters.
Although the security situation has improved since a series of high-profile attacks on tourists in 2015, Tunisia has maintained a state of emergency for four years, with assaults against members of the security forces persisting.
On June 27, a suicide attacker killed two people in the heart of the capital.
During the campaign, Mr Saied said a key to fighting terrorism was education, arguing that improving primary education would immunise young people against extremism.
Another significant task he will face is reforming the police force, which was a cog in the dictatorship toppled by the uprising of 2011 and which continues to face accusations of being involved in human rights abuses.