Tunisians go to polls in first presidential election

Polling stations have opened across Tunisia, as the country seeks to choose its first elected president since the 2011 uprising that sparked the wave of similar rebellions across the Arab world known as the Arab Spring.

The election, Tunisia's first multi-candidate presidential poll, has been described as the final stage of transition to democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring. The country's incumbent President Moncef Marzouki - who was installed in the post by parliament just two months after a general election in 2011 - is one of nearly 30 contenders in the election.

Some 5.2 million Tunisians are eligible to vote at about 11,000 polling stations. Preliminary official results are expected by Tuesday and, if there is no candidate with an outright majority, a run-off vote between the top two will be held on December 28.

Until the revolution, Tunisia had only had two presidents. Habib Bourguiba, who led the Tunisian state after independence from France in 1956, was the first, before being deposed by Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Ben Ali's ouster in 2011 followed protests over high prices and unemployment that inspired the Arab Spring in countries such as Egypt, Syria and neighboring Libya.

Unlike those countries, Tunisia has remained largely stable. While there have been setbacks - including the murder of two opposition members - secular and religious rivals have largely managed to compromise.

Former PM is frontrunner

Among the other contenders are former Prime Minister Beji Caid Essibsi, the 87-year-old founder of the secularist Nidaa Tounes (Tunisia's Call) party. Indeed, Essibsi is seen as the frontrunner after his party came first in October parliamentary elections.

Nidaa Tounes came first with 85 seats in the new 217-member parliament, while the moderate Islamist party Ennahda - winner of the first parliamentary elections - secured 69 seats.

Ennahda has not put forward a candidate and has invited its members "to elect a president who will guarantee democracy."

Also standing is El Hammami - a veteran leftist who was tortured and imprisoned for his communist activities under Bourguiba and Ben Ali from the 1970s onwards.

While polling was scheduled to take place for a 10-hour period in most of the country, it was restricted to five hours in some 50 districts where armed rebels are active close to the Algerian border.

rc/tj (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)