Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said on Saturday that he did not want to run for a second term in presidential elections expected this year, despite his party’s calls for the 93-year-old to stand. Mass protests that toppled ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algeria have stirred the opposition in Tunisia, and social media campaigns have begun rejecting a second term for Essebsi. “I will say frankly that I do not want to present for a second term because Tunisia has a lot of talents,” Essebsi said at a meeting of his party Nidaa Tounes in Monastir. Tunisia will hold a parliamentary election on October 6 and a presidential election starting on November 17. In December 2014, Essebsi won the first free presidential election, becoming Tunisia’s first freely and directly elected president.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 06, 2019 15:33 UTC