Kais Saied, a 61-year-old law professor and an expert on constitutional affairs who ran as an independent, is expected to participate in Tunisia’s presidential election.
Sigma Conseil, the Tunisian institution for polls, claimed that Saied has won the first round of the Tunisian presidential elections, a day before the preliminary results which are expected to be announced on Tuesday.
In his electoral campaign, Saied visited the markets and popular neighbourhoods, discussing problems and demands of Tunisians face-to-face.
Running as an independent, he has sought to appeal to young voters. One of his policies included not to accept any financial support from any party, refusing even public funding in what he explained as a process to ensure that he will “not to be controlled by any party in financial or political terms.”
Saied served as the secretary-general of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional Law between 1990 and 1995 and has been the vice president of the organisation since 1995. He also served as a legal expert for the Arab League and the Arab Institute for Human Rights.
Saied was one of the first declared candidates in the 2019 Tunisian presidential election.
Although he is described as a “robocop,” because he always speaks Arabic in a sober tone, he seems to be very popular among Tunisians, as he was elected by acclamation in the province of Kasserine alone within 48 hours receiving 7,000 votes. Saied asserted that Tunisia should amend the constitution to distribute the ruler’s power to local authorities.
