Freed from jail, Tunisian candiate hits campaign trail ahead of presidential runoff
Record ID:
1436335
Freed from jail, Tunisian candiate hits campaign trail ahead of presidential runoff
- Title: Freed from jail, Tunisian candiate hits campaign trail ahead of presidential runoff
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ARABIC TEACHER AND KAIS SAIED SUPPORTER, SALMA ALARABY, SAYING: "I hope all Tunisians vote for him because Kais Saied is an educated intellectual who is far from corrupt and who is against corruption, and hopefully he will change Tunisia because we are bored of corruption and lobbyists. We held a revolution because we wanted our country to be better, not to go backwards, and we've been going backwards. We are with Kais Saied and we support him for the sake of a better future." SUPPORTERS AT RALLY
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 20:57
- Keywords: Tunis Tunisia Bizerte Campaign Presidential Elections Kais Saied Nabil Karoui
- Location: BIZERTE AND TUNIS, TUNISIA
- City: BIZERTE AND TUNIS, TUNISIA
- Country: Tunisia
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA005B0NNPL3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Presidential candidate Nabil Karoui campaigned across Tunisia on Friday (October 11) just two days after being released from jail, while supporters of his opponent gathered in the capital Tunis ahead of Sunday's (October 13) election runoff.
Karoui addressed flag-waving supporters in the port city of Bizerte in the morning, before moving on to events in Ariana and Erriadh on his one-day campaign trail.
The media mogul candidate was the runner up in the first round of the presidential election last month despite being held since August 23 in pre-trial detention on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering. Karoui denies any wrongdoing.
He will now face law professor Kais Saied, an independent, in the second round of voting.
Back in the capital, supporters of Saied, who had previously said he would not campaign while Karoui was in prison, gathered on the historic Habib Bourguiba street.
Supporters waved flags and shouted slogans in support of the independent who did not show up to the rally but sent an audio message that was played out from large speakers.
Both men have presented themselves as political outsiders riding a wave of public dissatisfaction with the years of economic stagnation that followed the 2011 revolution.
On Friday night, weeks after Karoui and Saied took the top two places in the first-round vote, Tunisians will see them debate face-to-face for the first time.
(Production: Sayed Sheasha, Muhammed Abughaneya, Seham Eloraby) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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