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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Tunisian voters choose former insider as president

Los Angeles Times

TUNIS, Tunisia - In a triumph of the old guard, a former senior member of Tunisia’s pre-revolution government has won the presidency, according to official preliminary results released Monday.

Though the results did not represent the full final count, Tunisia’s election commission declared 88-year-old Beji Caid Essebsi the winner of Sunday’s runoff vote. The news set off car-honking celebrations in the capital, Tunis, among his supporters.

The preliminary figures, echoing those of exit polls released soon after balloting ended Sunday, pointed to a more than 10-percentage-point disparity between Essebsi and his rival, Moncef Marzouki, 69, a former human rights activist and the incumbent president.

Essebsi was aligned with the toppled government of Zine el Abidine ben Ali, who was pushed from office in the first of the regional uprisings that became collectively known as the Arab Spring. But whatever distaste voters may have felt over his serving as speaker of parliament under the former dictator, many voters expressed confidence in his ability to bring stability.