The key has been getting the approval of the majority party in parliament Ennahda.

It’s been a four month battle for Tunisia’s President Kaïs Saied and his Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh.

After the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party failed to form a government that met parliamentary approval, the Prime Minister had another go.

Saied warned this week that if it did not pass a no-confidence vote he would be forced to go back to the people.

The government includes Nizar Yaich as Finance Minister, Nourredine Erran in charge of foreign affairs and Imed Hazgui holding the defence portfolio. 

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Nabil Karoui, his opponent in last Sunday’s run-off election has conceded defeat.

Official results of Tunisia’s Presidential election reflect a turnout of 55% with retired lawyer Kaïs Saïed getting 72,71 % of the vote and Nabil Karoui 27,29 %.

The television mogul’s acceptance of the result means Tunisia can move on to building the the political consensus it needs to deal with the countrys’ economic stagnation and rising unemployment.

Saïed has the support of the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party that won most votes in the parliamentary election earlier this month but falls far short of a majority in the legislature.

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The contest is between two outsiders who beat off the heavyweight establishment figures among the two dozen other contestant.

Conservative lawyer Kaïs Saïed and television mogul Nabil Karoui are the choice of an electorate disillusioned with the performance of the traditional leaders.

Neither managed anything near an outright win, however. Saïed won  18.4% of the vote with Karoui palming 15.6%

In parliamentary elections last week, voters gave the nod to the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party and Karoui’s Qalb Tounes – the Heart of Tunisia.

On a turnout of only 42% of the seven million registered voters, Ennahda won 52 of the 217 parliamentary seats well short of a majority.

It has pledged not to enter into an alliance with  Qalb Tounes so there will be some interesting coalition buildingsin the weeks ahead.

 Karoui was released on bail last week, having been jailed since August 27 to face charges of tax evasion and money laundering.

It was feared his incarceration would jeopardize the crediblity of  the elections which , according to local and international observers, underpinned the Tunisian democracy.

It is not clear whether 54-year-old Karoui will , contest the outcome of the election in which he had barely two days to campaign.

The populist and charismatic self-made businessman has been dubbed Karoui Macaroni because of the money and food he has doled out to Tunisians – 15% of whom live below the poverty line.

Karoui recognized his strength lies attracting the the poor and the one fifth of Tunisians who are feeling the pinch unemployment, rising prices and a stagnating economy.

His campaign suffered a blow when it merged he had bought the services of a Canadian lobbyist  company to secure meeting with US President Donald Trump and others.

It is illegal under Tunisian  law to get help or finance from abroad.

To compound matters the chief executive of the lobbyist group is a former Israel intelligence operative

The head of the observer team from the Johannesburg-based Electoral Commission for a Sustainable Democracy in Africa, former Mauritian president Cassam Uteem,  commended the orderliness of the elections but called, in the name of fairness,  for Karoui to be allowed to participate fully.

Saïed also expressed disquiet about his opponent being jailed. He opted against taking  advantage of this and declined to campaign for the run-off poll.

The 62 year-old, who speaks classical Arabic, has the support of Ennahda.

The backing of that party’s machine and funding from countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia will stand him on good stead.

In supporting a man who rejects the status quo, Tunsians have a man who favor the return of the death penalty.

He says his wife will not become first lady if he is elected and that he will continue to live in his moderate home rather than move into the presidential palace. 

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The big question is whether it will produce a result capable of breaking the economic stagnation hamstringing this Mediterranean Arab country.

The victory of two outsiders in the first round of the Presidential poll showed Tunisians have lost faith in the country’s traditional political leadership.

The Parliamentary election on Sunday is likely to produce a similar outcome.

This will leave the winners having to forge a coalition.

Already two front runners , the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party and Heart of Tunisia Party have said they won’t share power.

Analysts agree political paralysis is a problem Tunisia can least afford.

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