Tunisian Candidate Claims Victory Over Interim President
Former Cabinet Member Beji Caid Essebsi Claims Win
By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY and RADHOUANE ADDALA
Dec. 21, 2014 6:59 p.m. ET
TUNIS, Tunisia—The streets of the capital erupted in celebration after the self-declared victory of a presidential candidate with ties to the country’s autocratic past in a runoff that has yet to be officially called.
Beji Caid Essebsi, an 88-year-old veteran politician who held various cabinet posts under two authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, said he had won the hotly contested election shortly after polls closed at 6 p.m. local time. Three unofficial polling agencies put his share of the vote at between 52% and 55%.
The election capped a nearly four-year transition that began in 2011 with a popular uprising that unseated longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
If Mr. Essebsi’s claim is confirmed by election authorities, his win would culminate the meteoric rise of the anti-Islamist party he established with a message that rebranded him and other former regime figures as experienced statesman uniquely positioned to govern the nation.
It would also give the party Nida Tunis control of both the legislature and the presidency, a prospect that some have seen as a setback for Tunisia’s largely successful but halting path to democracy and that risks re-establishing one-party rule.
Mr. Essebsi appeared to try to tamp down such fears in remarks to state television, thanking his rival, Moncef Marzouki. He said he was dedicating his “victory to the martyrs of Tunisia” and called for inclusive politics.
Though official results aren’t expected until Monday at the earliest, Mr. Essebsi’s campaign said there were “positive indications” that their candidate had won and encouraged their supporters to celebrate.
Mr. Marzouki, who has served as interim president since 2011, refused to concede any ground to Mr. Essebsi late on Sunday. Addressing supporters from a balcony at his Tunis campaign headquarters, the incumbent urged patience until official results are announced.
“Tunisia has won today,” he said. “Democracy has won….This is the start of a new era where there is no one man state and nobody wins 99%.”
Adnene Mansar, campaign director for Mr. Marzouki, said the race was too close to call. “The difference between the candidates is thousands of votes, not hundreds of thousands of votes,” he said. “We urge caution in drawing a conclusion this early.”
Another Marzouki campaign official, Anouar Gharbi, said: “We think we won this election,” but added that lawyers were looking into complaints of voting irregularities that he said could have hurt Mr. Marzouki’s chances.
Supporters of Mr. Essebsi flooded the streets of the capital Tunis, waving Tunisian flags and chanting “Beji, the president” in public squares and outside the campaign headquarters of Nida Tunis.
“We are just so relieved,” said Aida Masmoudi, a 46-year-old doctor who stood out of breath outside the party office in a posh suburb north of downtown. “Beji represents everyone. He respects all Tunisians. It is a critical situation and now it is time to get to work.”
Mr. Essebsi had been the favorite to win, but he faced an unexpectedly stiff challenge from Mr. Marzouki, a 69-year-old human-rights activist and physician who was appointed interim president in 2011 by a constituent assembly.
Ms. Masmoudi said she respected Mr. Marzouki “as a colleague, as a physician, but he wasn’t the man for the situation. He was indecisive.”
Analysts said Mr. Essebsi emerged as the favorite as the public’s revolutionary fervor gave way to frustrations with the transition, particularly with the contracting economy and worsening security environment.
In last month’s first election round, Mr. Essebsi won 39.5% of votes, while Mr. Marzouki took a stronger-than-expected 33.4%. Mr. Essebsi, despite his age and political history, had been tipped to trounce the competition in the first round based on his message of restoring Tunisia’s “state prestige” and economy after four years of political instability.
Mr. Marzouki’s strong showing, though, forced a runoff vote and touched off a period of sharply negative campaigning from both sides.
“Nida Tunis benefited massively from disaffection and disappointment over the past three years,” said Monica Marks, a Tunis-based scholar with Oxford University. “That disappointment has a lot more to do with quotidian, everyday material realities than it does with big ideological issues.”
The nation of about 11 million people sparked the Arab Spring in 2011 when massive street demonstrations caused Mr. Ben Ali to resign and flee the country. Tunisia has largely avoided the violence and political chaos that has engulfed other nations in the region, with political parties with disparate ideologies embracing consensus.
Mr. Marzouki, who hails from Tunisia’s heartland, failed to woo a large percentage of the leftist and youth vote that went to a series of candidates in November’s primary, relying instead on a base of support outside the capital and Islamists wary of Mr. Essebsi’s political pedigree.
Expectations that Mr. Essebsi will win have raised concerns that Tunisia could take a step back toward one-party rule. Nida Tunis, which Mr. Essebsi created in 2012, won a plurality of seats in a parliamentary vote in October, beating Islamist party Ennahda, which secured the second-largest share of seats.
“To what extent this party will be able to nurture Tunisia’s newborn democratic structures without resorting to older regime modes of governance remains an open question,” Ms. Marks said.
Earlier on Sunday, voters lined up to cast their ballots at schools designated as polling centers.
They described their votes as being less about the candidate and more about the future of the nation they aspired to see. Samir Jouini, a 28-year-old banker, said he voted for Mr. Marzouki as the representative of Tunisia’s revolution.
“We did a revolution to be free and support human rights,” he said. “Human rights will win.”
Ahlam Souli, a 21-year-old economics student, said she was voting for Mr. Essebsi despite reservations about his political past, describing him as the better of “two bad options.”
“But with his experience, he could get things done,” she said. “We want jobs when we finish our education, better and cheaper transportation and security when we go out. That is what I’m concerned with.”
Write to Tamer El-Ghobashy at tamer.el-ghobashy@wsj.com
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| Tunisian voters cast their ballots on Dec. 21, 2014. |
By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY and RADHOUANE ADDALA
Dec. 21, 2014 6:59 p.m. ET
TUNIS, Tunisia—The streets of the capital erupted in celebration after the self-declared victory of a presidential candidate with ties to the country’s autocratic past in a runoff that has yet to be officially called.
Beji Caid Essebsi, an 88-year-old veteran politician who held various cabinet posts under two authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, said he had won the hotly contested election shortly after polls closed at 6 p.m. local time. Three unofficial polling agencies put his share of the vote at between 52% and 55%.
The election capped a nearly four-year transition that began in 2011 with a popular uprising that unseated longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
If Mr. Essebsi’s claim is confirmed by election authorities, his win would culminate the meteoric rise of the anti-Islamist party he established with a message that rebranded him and other former regime figures as experienced statesman uniquely positioned to govern the nation.
It would also give the party Nida Tunis control of both the legislature and the presidency, a prospect that some have seen as a setback for Tunisia’s largely successful but halting path to democracy and that risks re-establishing one-party rule.
Mr. Essebsi appeared to try to tamp down such fears in remarks to state television, thanking his rival, Moncef Marzouki. He said he was dedicating his “victory to the martyrs of Tunisia” and called for inclusive politics.
Though official results aren’t expected until Monday at the earliest, Mr. Essebsi’s campaign said there were “positive indications” that their candidate had won and encouraged their supporters to celebrate.
Mr. Marzouki, who has served as interim president since 2011, refused to concede any ground to Mr. Essebsi late on Sunday. Addressing supporters from a balcony at his Tunis campaign headquarters, the incumbent urged patience until official results are announced.
“Tunisia has won today,” he said. “Democracy has won….This is the start of a new era where there is no one man state and nobody wins 99%.”
Adnene Mansar, campaign director for Mr. Marzouki, said the race was too close to call. “The difference between the candidates is thousands of votes, not hundreds of thousands of votes,” he said. “We urge caution in drawing a conclusion this early.”
Another Marzouki campaign official, Anouar Gharbi, said: “We think we won this election,” but added that lawyers were looking into complaints of voting irregularities that he said could have hurt Mr. Marzouki’s chances.
Supporters of Mr. Essebsi flooded the streets of the capital Tunis, waving Tunisian flags and chanting “Beji, the president” in public squares and outside the campaign headquarters of Nida Tunis.
“We are just so relieved,” said Aida Masmoudi, a 46-year-old doctor who stood out of breath outside the party office in a posh suburb north of downtown. “Beji represents everyone. He respects all Tunisians. It is a critical situation and now it is time to get to work.”
Mr. Essebsi had been the favorite to win, but he faced an unexpectedly stiff challenge from Mr. Marzouki, a 69-year-old human-rights activist and physician who was appointed interim president in 2011 by a constituent assembly.
Ms. Masmoudi said she respected Mr. Marzouki “as a colleague, as a physician, but he wasn’t the man for the situation. He was indecisive.”
Analysts said Mr. Essebsi emerged as the favorite as the public’s revolutionary fervor gave way to frustrations with the transition, particularly with the contracting economy and worsening security environment.
In last month’s first election round, Mr. Essebsi won 39.5% of votes, while Mr. Marzouki took a stronger-than-expected 33.4%. Mr. Essebsi, despite his age and political history, had been tipped to trounce the competition in the first round based on his message of restoring Tunisia’s “state prestige” and economy after four years of political instability.
Mr. Marzouki’s strong showing, though, forced a runoff vote and touched off a period of sharply negative campaigning from both sides.
“Nida Tunis benefited massively from disaffection and disappointment over the past three years,” said Monica Marks, a Tunis-based scholar with Oxford University. “That disappointment has a lot more to do with quotidian, everyday material realities than it does with big ideological issues.”
The nation of about 11 million people sparked the Arab Spring in 2011 when massive street demonstrations caused Mr. Ben Ali to resign and flee the country. Tunisia has largely avoided the violence and political chaos that has engulfed other nations in the region, with political parties with disparate ideologies embracing consensus.
Mr. Marzouki, who hails from Tunisia’s heartland, failed to woo a large percentage of the leftist and youth vote that went to a series of candidates in November’s primary, relying instead on a base of support outside the capital and Islamists wary of Mr. Essebsi’s political pedigree.
Expectations that Mr. Essebsi will win have raised concerns that Tunisia could take a step back toward one-party rule. Nida Tunis, which Mr. Essebsi created in 2012, won a plurality of seats in a parliamentary vote in October, beating Islamist party Ennahda, which secured the second-largest share of seats.
“To what extent this party will be able to nurture Tunisia’s newborn democratic structures without resorting to older regime modes of governance remains an open question,” Ms. Marks said.
Earlier on Sunday, voters lined up to cast their ballots at schools designated as polling centers.
They described their votes as being less about the candidate and more about the future of the nation they aspired to see. Samir Jouini, a 28-year-old banker, said he voted for Mr. Marzouki as the representative of Tunisia’s revolution.
“We did a revolution to be free and support human rights,” he said. “Human rights will win.”
Ahlam Souli, a 21-year-old economics student, said she was voting for Mr. Essebsi despite reservations about his political past, describing him as the better of “two bad options.”
“But with his experience, he could get things done,” she said. “We want jobs when we finish our education, better and cheaper transportation and security when we go out. That is what I’m concerned with.”
Write to Tamer El-Ghobashy at tamer.el-ghobashy@wsj.com
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