Polls open in decisive Tunisian presidential election round

Polls open in decisive Tunisian presidential election round
October 13, 2019, 9:08 am

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the Saudi Aramco attacks in an interview with Al Arabiya. (Supplied)

Polls opened in Tunisia on Sunday for the decisive second-round of the presidential election between media mogul Nabil Karoui and independent retired law professor Kais Saied.

The two beat 24 other candidates including some of Tunisia’s most powerful politicians in the first round poll on September 15 to advance to the run-off, with Saied taking 18.4 percent of votes and Karoui 15.6 percent.

Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) for the second round of a vote that saw the two political newcomers sweep aside the country’s post-Arab Spring establishment last month.

The election comes just four days after media mogul candidate Nabil Karoui was released from jail. He’s facing money laundering and tax evasion charges that he calls politically driven.

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