clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Kaïs Saïed announces he will visit Algeria first if he wins the presidency

September 18, 2019 at 12:02 am

Presidential candidate Kais Saied kisses Tunisian flag as he wins the presidential election according to unofficial results in Tunis on 15 September 2019 [Nacer Talel/Anadolu Agency]

Tunisia’s presidential candidate, Kaïs Saïed, has vowed that Algeria will be his first external destination in case he wins the presidency.

The independent candidate Saïed said in media statements on Monday evening that the fate of Tunisia “is linked to neighbouring countries.” He stressed that amending the Constitution will not be his first act if he becomes president.

Partial results of the presidential elections showed on Monday that the candidate Kaïs Saïed came first, followed by Nabil Karoui, the candidate of the Heart of Tunisia party, who is currently imprisoned on charges of corruption, and then Ennahdha party’s candidate Abdelfattah Mourou, respectively, after the counting of 71 per cent of the votes.

Saïed said the results of the current elections was a “revolution”. He noted that his election campaign was based on volunteering and the youth’s regularity in a non-conventional way.

READ: Poll suggests surprise result in presidential vote

Regarding the upcoming legislative elections, Saïed said that he would not declare his support for any of the candidates, calling for giving the voter the right to withdraw trust from the MPs during their term if they fail to fulfil their pledges.

The results revealed that Kaïs Saïed won 18.8 percent of the votes, followed by Karoui with 15.4 percent, and Mourou with 13 percent.

These results are consistent with the findings published by the Sigma Conseil agency (private) based on the results of polls of citizens after leaving the voting centres.

Sigma Conseil statistics had already predicted a run-off between Saïed and Karoui, while Mourou came in third place.

The final announcement of the results of the first round of the presidential elections is scheduled at midday Tuesday, local time (11:00 GMT).