Tunisia's new president, Beji Caid Essebsi, sworn in
- 9 years ago
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: Veteran Tunisian politician Beji Caid Essebsi was sworn in as the country's new President on Wednesday (December 31), as part of the final step of a transition to democracy after an uprising that ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
The ceremony was held just over four years after the start of the protests which eventually unseated Ben Ali.
Essebsi, a former Ben Ali official, beat rival Moncef Marzouki with 55.68 percent of the vote against 44.32 percent in a run-off ballot, the country's first free presidential elections, held earlier this month.
A former parliament speaker under Ben Ali, Essebsi recast himself as an experienced technocrat.
His secular party Nidaa Tounes - Call for Tunisia - profited from a backlash against the post-revolt Islamist government, which many voters blamed for turmoil after 2011.
Critics of Essebsi, an 88-year-old who has spent five decades in Tunisian politics, see hi
STORY: Veteran Tunisian politician Beji Caid Essebsi was sworn in as the country's new President on Wednesday (December 31), as part of the final step of a transition to democracy after an uprising that ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
The ceremony was held just over four years after the start of the protests which eventually unseated Ben Ali.
Essebsi, a former Ben Ali official, beat rival Moncef Marzouki with 55.68 percent of the vote against 44.32 percent in a run-off ballot, the country's first free presidential elections, held earlier this month.
A former parliament speaker under Ben Ali, Essebsi recast himself as an experienced technocrat.
His secular party Nidaa Tounes - Call for Tunisia - profited from a backlash against the post-revolt Islamist government, which many voters blamed for turmoil after 2011.
Critics of Essebsi, an 88-year-old who has spent five decades in Tunisian politics, see hi