Beji Caid Essebsi has won Tunisia’s first free presidential election, defeating the incumbent president Moncef Marzouki.
Mr Essebsi 88, won the election with 55.68% vote while the incumbent president Mr Marzouki 67, got 44.32% vote, the head of the electoral commission has revealed.
Mr Essebsi, has urged all Tunisians to work together for stability while his critics have questioned his his return to power.
The incumbent president Marzouki has congratulated the newly elected president Essebsi on his victory in the election via his Facebook page.
Mr Essebi who served under the ousted president Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali during the Arab spring that caused uprisings across the region. Mr Essebsi was also in the cabinet of Tunisia’s first post-independence leader, Habib Bourguiba.
Earlier on Monday, police fired teargas in the southern city of Hamma to disperse hundreds of youths who burned tyres and blocked streets to demonstrate against Mr Essebsi victory.
It is the first time Tunisians have been able to vote freely for their president since independence from France in 1956.
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