What Happened: Tunisian independent outsider Kais Saied has won the country's presidential elections after receiving 72.21 percent of the vote in a runoff against media magnate Nabil Karoui, according to the Tunisian electoral commission, Tunisie Numerique reported Oct. 14.
Why It Matters: The victory of Saied, a relative outsider in Tunisian politics, underlines the public's widespread rejection of institutional politics, as well as its frustration with the political class.
Background: Following President Caid Essebsi's death in July, electoral authorities moved up the country's presidential polls to mid-September. The government has been struggling to manage Tunisia's ongoing economic crisis and satisfy popular demands for job creation and economic benefits, while also adhering to the reform promises it made to the International Monetary Fund.
Read More:
- Tunisia's Budding Democracy Faces Its Biggest Test (Aug. 26, 2019)
- Tunisia: The President's Ill Health Compounds the Woes of a Country on Edge (June 28, 2019)
- Tunisia's Two Sheikhs Are Frenemies No More (Sept. 27, 2018)
