(Bloomberg) -- A low-profile law professor and a jailed television mogul secured the highest number of votes in a landmark presidential vote that showed an outright rejection of a political establishment widely seen as failing to rebuild the North African nation after the 2011 uprising.
Kais Saied, a constitutional law expert, secured 18.4% of the vote, with Nabil Karoui, who is jailed amid allegations of money-laundering dating back to 2016, got 15.6%. With neither man achieving more than 50%, a run-off ballot must be held. Karoui has denied the allegations.
The outcome of the ballot was a devastating blow to candidates who had counted on their experience over the past eight years to lead them to the presidency. Among them was Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and the deputy head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, Abdelfattah Mourou, and Defense Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi.
Mourou came in a close third to Karoui with 12.9%% of the vote. Zbidi was fourth and Chahed fifth out of the 24 candidates seeking the top job.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jihen Laghmari in Tunis at jlaghmari@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tarek El-Tablawy at teltablawy@bloomberg.net
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