Independent candidate and law professor Kais Saied, who gained 18.4 percent in the first round of Tunisia's presidential election, and media tycoon Nabil Karoui, with 15.58 percent, have made it to a run-off, the country's election commission said Tuesday
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2019) Independent candidate and law professor Kais Saied, who gained 18.4 percent in the first round of Tunisia's presidential election, and media tycoon Nabil Karoui, with 15.58 percent, have made it to a run-off, the country's election commission said Tuesday."Due to the fact that none of the candidates won an absolute majority of votes, a runoff will be organized," a spokesman for the commission said.
In absolute figures, Saied received 620,711 votes versus 525,517 votes for Karoui, according to the commission.
"The total number of registered voters is 7,074,566 and the total number of voters who participated in the election is 3,456,184," the commission chief said, adding that "the number of votes which have been canceled is 68,125." This effectively brings the overall voter turnout to 49 percent.
As for the other candidates, co-founder and vice president of the Islamist Ennahdha Party Abdelfattah Mourou received 12.88 percent of the vote, followed by Defense Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi with 10.73 percent and Prime Minister Youssef Chahed with 7.83 percent, the commission added.
The first round of the presidential election in Tunisia took place on Sunday, with over 20 candidates running. The decision to hold the snap presidential election was made after Beji Caid Essebsi, the 92-year-old president who led the country for the past five years, died on July 25.
