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A8 WORLD NEWS
Monday 14 october 2019
Tunisia polls suggest conservative professor wins election

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA During the presidential
Associated Press race, Saied shunned politi-
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A con- cal rallies, preferring to run
servative, Islamist-backed his campaign from discreet
law professor looked set to locations like cafes, or let
assume Tunisia's presidency young people rally support.
after polling agencies sug- He enjoyed an enthusiastic
gested he overwhelmingly youth campaign machine
won Sunday's runoff elec- that cheered him on Twit-
tion in the country that un- ter, and backing from the
leashed the Arab Spring No. 1 and No. 3 parties in
pro-democracy uprisings. the new parliament: the
Kais Saied's supporters ex- moderate Islamist party En-
ploded with joy, celebrat- nahdha and the Al Karama
ing on the main boulevard Coalition, led by a radical
of Tunis, and Saied thanked Islamist lawyer.
his supporters and an- Voters lined up even before
nounced plans to travel to polls opened in the capital,
neighboring Libya and Al- Tunis, choosing between
geria and to champion the two candidates who have
Palestinian cause. never held political office.
Official results of the top- The only thing Saied and
sy-turvy election — in Karoui had in common
which Saied's rival, Nabil Tunisian law professor Kais Saied prepares to kiss the national flag Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019 in Tunis. was their outsider status.
Karoui, spent most of the Associated Press Both rose to the runoff on
campaign behind bars 23% and 27%. The poll- ple and local governments. sons, arguing that the hot- the disenchantment of Tu-
— weren't expected until ing agencies questioned "A new page in history is button issue is decided by nisians, particularly young
Tuesday. several thousand people turning," he told reporters the Quran, the Muslim holy people and the poor, who
The winner inherits a North in person in various con- in Tunis after the polls came book. feel the governing class
African country struggling stituencies on voting day. out. A former constitutional With poker-straight posture, hasn't fulfilled the promises
to create jobs, revive tour- Emhrod Consulting said its law professor, Saied prom- a blank visage and a stac- of the 2011 "jasmine revolu-
ism and overcome sporad- poll had a margin of error ised to uphold Tunisia's cato speaking style — in tion" that unleashed revolts
ic extremist violence — but of two percentage points, post-revolution constitu- literary Arabic inaccessible around the Arab world.
proud of its still-budding de- while Sigma Conseil said tion, saying, "No one will be to many in the rural interior "I just hope that everything
mocracy. This is only Tuni- its margin of error was 1.5 above the law." — he has been assigned that will happen in the next
sia's second free presiden- points. Despite the backing of En- the nickname "Robocop." five years will be better for
tial election. Saied, 61, is an indepen- nahdha, he described him- A 2013 TV show with a hid- Tunisia," said voter Elfi Za-
Polls carried in Tunisian me- dent outsider but is support- self as politically neutral. den camera, and Saied ouarda, casting a ballot in
dia by Sigma Conseil and ed by moderate Islamist "I am independent and will as guest, created a fake Tunis.
Emhrod Consulting forecast party Ennahdha, which remain so until the end of earthquake in the studio. More than 100,000 police,
that Saied would come out won last week's parliamen- my life," he said during the Things banged, the table soldiers and security forces
on top with between 72% tary elections. He promised campaign. shook violently, along with guarded polling stations,
and 77% of the votes. Me- to overturn Tunisia's gov- Firmly conservative, Saied Saied's chair. He sat im- and thousands of local
dia magnate Karoui was erning structure, handing opposes equal inheritance passively, at one point only and foreign observers mon-
projected to win between more power to young peo- rights for daughters and looking at his watch. itored the vote.q
Brexit divorce talks between UK and EU go down to the wire

By JILL LAWLESS But negotiations intensi- by both British and Europe-
Associated Press fied last week after John- an parliaments. Many Brit-
LONDON (AP) — British son and Irish Prime Minister ish lawmakers — on both
Prime Minister Boris John- Leo Varadkar said they pro-Brexit and pro-EU sides
son was to brief his Cabinet could see a "pathway" to of the debate — remain
Sunday on the progress of a divorce agreement that unconvinced.
last-minute Brexit talks with avoids a no-deal Brexit, Lawmaker Nigel Dodds of
the European Union, amid something economists say Northern Ireland's Demo-
signs of progress but also would hurt both the U.K. cratic Unionist Party —
deep-seated skepticism and EU economies. which props up Johnson's
about the chances of a Both sides say substantial Conservative minority gov-
deal. gaps remain and it's un- ernment — has rejected
Britain is due to leave the clear whether they can one suggested compro-
28-nation bloc on Oct. be bridged in time for an mise, in which Northern Ire-
31, and attempts to find a Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he participates orderly British departure land stayed in a customs
deal have foundered over in an art class at St Mary's and All Saints Primary School in at the end of this month. partnership with the EU in
plans for keeping an open Beaconsfield, England, Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. A crucial EU summit, the order to remove the need
border between EU mem- Associated Press last scheduled chance to for border checks. The
ber Ireland and the U.K.'s der — something that un- nated Brexit discussions strike a deal, begins Thurs- DUP strongly opposes any
Northern Ireland. derpinned both the local for three years, ever since day. measures that would treat
The challenge of main- economy and the region's U.K. voters chose in 2016 to If a Brexit deal is reached, it Northern Ireland differently
taining an invisible bor- peace deal — has domi- leave the EU. still needs to be approved than the rest of the U.K. q