Kais Saied re-elected Tunisia president amid democracy 'crackdown': Video
Kais Saied has been re-elected as the President of Tunisia, securing 90.69% of the vote.
This landslide win comes amidst a backdrop of political tension and low voter turnout which reflects widespread discontent among the electorate.
The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) on Monday, October 7 announced that Saied received 2.4 million votes.
"Mr Kais Saied received 2,438,954 votes, a rate of 90.69%," electoral head, Farouk Bouasker stated.
On the other hand, Saied's close contender, Ayachi Zammel secured 197,551 of the votes, while Zouhair Maghzaoui had 52,903.
"Candidate Ayachi Zammel obtained 197,551 votes, equivalent to 7.35%. Mr Zouhair Maghzaoui obtained 52,903 votes, equivalent to 1.97% of the vote," Bouasker added.
Only 28.8% of the nearly 10 million eligible voters participated in the election. This low turnout is seen as a sign of growing dissatisfaction with the political process in Tunisia, a country that once stood as a beacon of democracy following the Arab Spring uprisings.
Despite the low turnout, Saied's supporters celebrated his victory before the official announcement on Sunday, October 6, after the polls closed. Exit polls had already predicted a landslide victory for the incumbent president.
