Tunisian Assembly elects Marzouki interim president

[News_Editor]

Tunisian Assembly elects Marzouki interim president

2011-12-13 07:39:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

BARDO, TUNISIA (BNO NEWS) -- The Tunisian Assembly on Monday elected veteran human rights activist Moncef Marzouki as the country's interim president, state-run media reported. It follows October's assembly elections.

With a majority of 153 votes, Marzouki was elected President of the Republic by the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), the state-run Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) news agency reported. As the first democratically chosen president, he is also the nation's third.

Marzouki, 66, is the leader of the center-left 'Congress for the Republic' party which was created in 2001 but was only legalized earlier this year after the ouster of then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Marzouki previously also served as the leader of the Tunisian League for Human Rights.

The 'Congress for the Republic' came second behind Ennahdha in assembly elections which were held in late October. The NCA elections marked the country's first free election since its independence in 1956, and Marzouki was put forward as the candidate of the tripartite coalition formed after results were announced.

The center-right and moderately Islamist Ennahdha Movement won 89 seats of the NCA, which represents roughly 41.5 percent of the National Constituent Assembly's 217 seats. The Congress for the Republic party, meanwhile, surprisingly received a large number of votes, earning 29 seats (13.8 percent). Ettakatol won 21 seats (9.68 percent).

Under the deal, Ettakatol leader Mustafa Ben Jaafar became president of the assembly while Marzouki is expected to appoint Ennahdha secretary general Hammadi Jebali as prime minister. They will lead the country until nationwide elections are held next year under a new constitution.

During Monday's election, Marzouki received only three votes against him while 44 others cast blank votes and two abstained. In total, 202 of the 217 Assembly members were present during the vote.

The elections in October and on Monday are considered to be the point of transition for Tunisia following the Tunisian Revolution earlier this year which ousted President Ben Ali after weeks of violent protests nationwide. The United Nations estimated that approximately 219 people were killed during the mass unrest which began in mid-December. Most of them died when security forces were ordered to fire at them.

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