Is Tunisia’s 92-year-old president mulling second term?
Nidaa Tounes recently announced its support for President Beiji Caid Essebsi to pursue a second term, a move that stirred controversy given his advanced age.
TUNIS – Nidaa Tounes leader Raouf Khammassi told Radio Diwan FM on Jan. 22 that his party backs 92-year-old Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi as its candidate in elections scheduled for December. Khammassi stressed that Essebsi is the movement’s only candidate, asserting, “There is no person capable of competing against him in the upcoming presidential elections. He has every chance to win.”
Essebsi won Tunisia's first post-revolution elections, held in December 2014, garnering 55.68% of the vote, while his opponent, Moncef Marzouki, received 44.32%. In a Sept. 24 interview with El Hiwar El Tounsi, Essebsi declined to indicate whether he planned to run for a second five-year term, stating, “It is a right guaranteed by the constitution, but we’ll talk about it when we get there.” He further remarked that age is not an obstacle for him, though it might be for his opponents.
Ramzi Khamis, a parliamentarian for Nidaa Tounes, told Al-Monitor that the party, which Essebsi founded in 2012, has asked him to run for re-election under its banner.
“We urged President Essebsi to run for a second term because not only Nidaa Tounes supporters, but a good number of Tunisians agree with his diligent efforts at achieving political and social stability in Tunisia over the past five years, thanks to the policy of understandings he adopted among parties and national organizations,” he said. Khamis further noted that there are no constitutional or health issues disqualifying an Essebsi candidacy.
