While official results will not be announced until Tuesday, according to projections by the polling firm Sigma Conseil, Kais Saied is leading the race. Saied is a year-old law professor and an expert on constitutional affairs. He seems to have received He is not affiliated with any party and is running as an independent candidate. Saied and also Karoui have both pledged to fight unemployment, a major problem in Tunisia, which suffers from high unemployment.
AP reports that Saied has no political background but that his straightforward, anti-system image and constitutional law background appealed to young voters. Many voters are sick and tired of corruption in the government, which may explain the attraction of an independent candidate with no previous ties to any established parties. Nabil Karoui, the owner of one of the most popular television stations as well as an ad agency in Tunisia, has been in jail since last month.
He is being accused of money laundering and tax evasion. Karoui was almost barred from running in the election: the Parliament had approved amendments to the electoral law in June.
Yet because these amendments were not ratified by the late president Essebsi, Karoui was able to join the race. According to the electoral commission, Karoui is free to run for president unless he is convicted. Kahlaoui, writing for the Washington Post , calls both Saied and Karoui anti-elitist populists. He points out that Karoui is a business partner of former prime minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, himself a media tycoon.
A hopeful sign for Tunisia, reported by AFP , is a potential breakthrough in growing indigenous crops from genetically modified stock, which would provide crucial resistance in a country racked by desertification and drought, with possible worsening of some of these issues from the impacts of climate change later in the century.
There are worries about the recession in democracy over the past fifteen years or so, and perhaps it will be that Tunisia goes the same way. But there are enough signs in the other direction that for the time being, the chance remains very much alive that the decision taken on 25 July will renew rather than revoke democracy in Tunisia.
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter. Related Posts. EER Editorials. He is expected to be a serious contender in the runoff elections in October. Reactionary support for populist candidates can grow from the perception of failed governance. Linking elite-level politics with corruption further widens the gap between voters and the electoral process.
The recent coalition government brought together different factions of the two winning parties of the election: the secular Nidaa Tounes party and the Islamists of Ennahda. But this coalition failed to engage with the concerns of many Tunisians, creating a void that resulted in a growing number of Tunisians who seek a fresh approach. The populists are feeding off this sentiment, which could kick most of the political elite out of their jobs.
The populist offering has existed since the first free elections, in It shares aspects of what we find in populism worldwide, such as using media and soccer as tools for publicizing an anti-elitist discourse. Moreover, for Karoui, there is a direct connection with world figures of populism, as he is a business partner of none other than Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy.
But his use of a charity to seduce voters and suggest a distrust in government institutions may be seen as unusual. He touts the image of a wealthy and visible financier speaking to the masses. Saied follows an opposite model. With no money or party, he has led a campaign by marching in the streets and talking to people without meetings and in limited media appearances.
His campaign is based on his absence from the public eye — other than his social media presence. The problem with Karoui, however, is his past.
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