Marzouki pledges to guarantee freedoms if he wins Tunisia presidency

Tunisia’s Interim President Moncef Marzouki, who is seeking re-election, pledged Sunday to defend public and private freedoms and to fight against all forms of terrorism and poverty if he wins the upcoming election, Anadolu news agency reported.

During a presidential rally for the run-off vote Marzouki also criticised local media outlets, which he accused of deliberately spreading rumours against him.

“We are here today to celebrate the victory signs… The escalating hysterical campaign against me raises laughter and compassion… prepare yourselves to see for another set of lies against me next week”, he said.

A number of local media sources last week published reports claiming Marzouki was expelled from some quarters and that Tunisians attacked him with shoes. These allegations were denied by the interim president in an official statement.

“The former regime uses intimidation to scare Tunisians of the future and to dissuade them from voting for me, but it is confronted with the people movement who are not afraid of intimidation”, the statement read.

Rival presidential candidate Beji Caid Essebsi from the Nidaa Tounes party also vowed Saturday to guarantee civil freedoms if he won Tunisia’s presidency. Opponents accuse Essebsi of including members of the former regime of ousted president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in his party which he denies.

“Essebsi’s victory [at the polls] would bring the country back to square one and ensure the return of the old regime, in which case Tunisia would lose everything that it has achieved in the three years since the revolution,” Marzouki said at a political rally in the northern town of Beja.

Electoral campaigning for the runoff vote kicked off on Tuesday – both in Tunisia and abroad – and will end on December 19, according to regulations set by Tunisia’s electoral commission. The runoff vote will be held on December 21 in Tunisia and on December 19, 20 and 21 overseas.

The runoff will see Marzouki, who came in second in last month’s first-round vote, face off against Essebsi, leader of the centrist Nidaa Tounes party, who came in at first place with 39.4 percent of the vote.