Freed from jail, Tunisian candiate hits campaign trail ahead of presidential runoff

Record ID: 1436338

  • Title: Freed from jail, Tunisian candiate hits campaign trail ahead of presidential runoff
  • Date: 11th October 2019
  • Summary: TUNIS, TUNISIA (OCTOBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) SUPPORTERS OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE KAIS SAIED WAVING FLAGS AT RALLY MAN SINGING SUPPORTERS WAVING FLAGS
  • 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: LVA002B0NNPL3
  • 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
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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