Tunisia Elects Kais Saied as President

Kais Saied, a former law professor, was elected President of Tunisia on October 13. (Wikimedia Commons)

Tunisian voters elected Kais Saied as president in a landslide vote on October 13. Saied, a retired law professor with no party affiliation, garnered more than 70% of the vote in the run-off, trouncing media tycoon Nabil Karoui in Tunisia’s second-ever presidential election.

Karoui and Saied finished first and second in the 26-candidate election in September. Neither candidate won a majority of votes, which triggered the October 13 run-off. Neither candidate had prior experience in Tunisian politics, and many Tunisians viewed both men as political outsiders.

Many Tunisians entered the election frustrated with the government and the economy. Only around 50 percent of eligible Tunisians voted in the first round of the elections, and they largely rejected more experienced candidates, such as former Prime Minister Youssef Chahed.  

“We Tunisians are angry at the previous president and governments. They failed us. Today, our dinar is collapsing and corruption is everywhere,” said Saoussen Attia, a 35-year-old Tunisian.

Many experts agree with Attia. “The tremendous disappointment with the lack of economic reform was paramount on Tunisian voters’ minds,” said Safwan Masri, Professor of Middle Eastern and North African politics at Columbia University.

Saied’s campaign focused on weeding out corruption and attracting younger voters. His supporters knew him as the “robocop,” or “robot,” because of his serious mannerisms. In his rare televised addresses, Saied even spoke in classical Arabic rather than the commonly-used local dialect. His conservative social platform included support for the death penalty and opposition to homosexuality.

Young voters fueled Saied’s victory, as he won almost 90% of the vote among 18-25-year-olds. “Saied is clean and represents us,” said one Tunisian student. “We know very well that he does not have a magic wand.”

Rania Gnaba, a 32-year-old financial analyst, expressed hope after the election that “Saied is going to make sure the laws of the Constitution are respected. He’s going to fight against corruption.” 

On the other hand, Karoui, owner of a lucrative Tunisian television channel, highlighted his charity work for Tunisia’s poor during his campaign. Karoui also had a reputation as a modern liberal candidate, as he aired a movie critical of Islam on his channel in 2012. 

In stark contrast to Saied, accusations of corruption plagued Karoui throughout the race. Karoui’s arrest in August on charges of tax evasion and money laundering complicated his campaign, even though he denied the accusations. Recent reports also alleged that Karoui’s campaign agreed to an illegal lobbying contract with a Canadian company.

Although the Tunisian government released Karoui on October 8 pending a verdict,  Karoui claimed his arrest had put him at an unfair disadvantage. Saied suspended his own campaigning before the run-off, claiming it would remove “any ambiguity” about the fairness of the election. Karoui ultimately chose to avoid controversy by conceding the election on October 14, hours before the electoral commission announced official results.

Saied will pursue his agenda in a parliament deeply divided along ideological lines. As Scott Mastic, senior official with the International Republican Institute, said before the election, “It will take a lot of work to form a governing coalition whatever that looks like and whomever is president.”