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Essebsi declares win in Tunisia election, rival contests

Veteran politician Beji Caid Essebsi declared victory in Sunday's presidential run-off vote, seen as the last step in Tunisia's shift to full democracy four years after an uprising ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.

 

Official results are not due until Monday and his rival, the incumbent president, Moncef Marzouki, refused to concede defeat.

 

But soon after polls closed, Essebsi, an 88-year-old former parliament speaker under Ben Ali, announced that he had won by a clear margin and jubilant supporters took to the streets of the capital in celebration, chanting "Beji President!"

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.22.14, 00:42