Essebsi wins Tunisia’s first free presidential vote

Beji Caid Essebsi

Veteran anti-Islamist politician Beji Caid Essebsi was declared the winner of Tunisia’s first free presidential election on Monday, capping off the transition to democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
But in a sign of the challenges ahead, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of youths who burned tyres in protest at the result.
Essebsi, an 88-year-old former official in previous Tunisian regimes, took 55.68 per cent of the vote to defeat incumbent Moncef Marzouki in Sunday’s run-off, the electoral commission said.
Essebsi had claimed victory shortly after polls closed but Marzouki, a long-exiled 69-year-old rights activist, refused initially to concede defeat.
On Monday, however, Marzouki’s spokesman said on Facebook the outgoing president had congratulated his rival.
A first round of voting on November 23 had seen Essebsi in the lead with 39 percent of the vote, six points ahead of Marzouki.
Participation in the second round was 60.1 percent, electoral commission chief Chafik Sarsar said, after authorities had urged a high turnout.
US President Barack Obama congratulated Essebsi and hailed the vote as “a vital step toward the completion of Tunisia’s momentous transition to democracy”, a White House statement said.
Obama’s secretary of state, John Kerry, said: “Tunisia has provided a shining example to the region and the world of what can be achieved through dedication to democracy, consensus, and an inclusive political process.”
The vote was seen as a landmark in Tunisia, which sparked the Arab Spring mass revolutions with the 2011 ouster of longtime strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
However, the campaign was bitter and divisive, with Marzouki insisting a win for Essebsi would mark the return of Tunisia’s old guard of ruling elites.
Essebsi in turn accused his rival of representing the moderately Islamist party Ennahda that ruled Tunisia after the revolution and which installed him as president.
Continued divisions were clear as some 300-400 protesters clashed with police in El Hamma in the south, where Marzouki had widespread support.
Protesters “set fire to tyres and tried to attack a police station by throwing stones. Security forces responded with tear gas,” interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said.
Several police were wounded in the clashes, which began late on Sunday, Aroui said.
After declaring victory on Sunday, Essebsi had urged Marzouki to “work together for the future of Tunisia”.
– ‘Milestone’ vote –
The vote was the first time Tunisians have freely elected their president since independence from France in 1956.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday congratulated the country on its “milestone” vote.
“The successful staging of this presidential election confirms Tunisia’s historic role,” he said in a statement.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in neighbouring Algeria also congratulated Essebsi and the “maturity” of the Tunisian electorate.
The weekly Tunis Hebdo said the vote would “enhance Tunisia’s reputation as the only Arab Spring country that has managed to survive”.
The revolution that began in Tunisia spread to many parts of the Arab world, with mass protests in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen.
In every country except Tunisia the revolution was followed by violent turmoil or, as in Syria’s case, a devastating civil war.
Sunday’s vote was largely peaceful, though troops guarding ballot papers in the central region of Kairouan who came under attack shot dead one assailant and captured three, the defence ministry said.
The authorities had deployed tens of thousands of soldiers and police for polling day.
Ahead of the vote, jihadists had issued a videotaped threat against Tunisia’s political establishment.
Essebsi’s Nidaa Tounes party won parliamentary polls in October and he promised to begin the process of forming a government after the presidential vote.
Under a new post-revolution constitution, the powers of the president have been curbed to guard against a return to dictatorship.
Ennahda came second in the general election and has not ruled out joining in a governing coalition.
The next government will face major challenges.
Tunisia’s economy is struggling to recover from the upheaval of the revolution and there are fears that widespread joblessness will cause social unrest.
A nascent jihadist threat has also emerged, with militant groups long suppressed under Ben Ali carrying out several attacks including the killings of two anti-Islamist politicians.

Primary: Fashola dares Tinubu over successor

In this piece, ENIOLA AKINKUOTU X-rays the division within the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress as the party picks its governorship candidate today Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos State, has only been ruled by one party since the return to democratic rule in 1999. The party, which has metamorphosed into what is… [Read More…]

3,000 delegates to pick APC Lagos gov candidate

Governor Babatunde Fashola

At least 3,000 delegates of the All Progressives Congress will on Thursday (today) pick the party’s Lagos governorship candidate. The party, in a statement by its state chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale, said the voting would take place at the Onikan Stadium, Ikoyi instead of its headquarters on Acme Road, Ogba. The party assured residents of… [Read More…]

APC condemns violence in Lagos Assembly primary

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has condemned the violence which marred the Assembly primary in the Ebute Meta area of the state which left about four youths dead. The Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, told our correspondent during an interview that those who perpetrated the violence were not… [Read More…]

Ekiti: Omirin, 74 others jostle for APC Assembly tickets

 Embattled Speaker of the Ekiti State Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin,

The embattled Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, and 74 others were among those vying for tickets of the All Progressives Congress to contest the 2015 House of Assembly election in the state.

Aside Omirin, 14 other serving APC lawmakers are also seeking re-election.

Speaking with journalists in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, the state APC Publicity Secretary, Chief Taiwo Olatunbosun, said the embattled lawmakers still had constitutional rights to contest election.

He said the APC House of Assembly committee sent from Abuja had distributed all the materials to the 26 constituencies in the presence of the agents of all the aspirants’.

Olatunbosun revealed that voting would be through the delegate system and that aspirants had been warned to maintain peace to prevent post-primary crisis.

He said, “There won’t be any imposition in any constituency. You know when you make a process of election transparent, then you will have little crisis to manage.

“Our party is encouraging internal democracy. We are encouraging our people to select whoever they want to be their flag bearers. I want to tell you that if other parties are imposing candidates, APC won’t do that.”

The party also accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of committing contempt of court by going ahead with the incarceration of the state Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe, in spite of a court order stopping his arrest over alleged murder case.

He said, “What Fayose wants is to put the judiciary in his right pocket and legislature in his left pocket of his trousers and the security agencies in his back pocket.

“A court of law gave a valid ruling stopping Chief Jide Awe’s arrest pending the determination of the substantive suit, but this is not being respected.

“But soonest, the constitution, the people and God Himself will take pre-eminence. Nobody is greater than the law. The law itself will fight very soon.”

A Federal High Court sitting in Jos, Plateau State, had last week restrained the police from re-arresting Awe and four others over the alleged murder of one Ayo Jeje and Mrs. Julianah Adewumi in Erinjiyan Ekiti on March 30, 2014.

Osun tribunal admits Omisore’s ballot papers

 Senator Iyiola Omisore

The Election Petitions Tribunal hearing matters arising from August 9 governorship election in Osun State on Tuesday admitted the ballot papers used in the conduct of the election.

The tribunal, headed by Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime, admitted the documents brought in sacks as evidence tendered by the petitioner, Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party. However, he reserved ruling on their admissibility until the judgment stage.

The tribunal had subpoenaed the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state to produce original ballot papers used in the 17 local government areas under dispute.

The materials were brought in 10 pick-up vans on Monday and the lead counsel for the petitioner, Dr. Alex Izinyon ( SAN), called the United States-based forensic data analysis expert, Mr. Pius Bakare, who tendered the documents.

Izinyon also tendered the photocopy of the subpoena issued by the same tribunal through the expert witness who was Petitioner Witness 38 in the case.

He said, “I seek to tender in bulk the original ballot papers and the subpoena issued by the tribunal to produce the documents.”

The counsel tendered four sacks containing original ballot papers from Ilesa East Local Government Areas.

The two counsel argued that the content of the sacks was not known and Chief Akin Olujinmi (SAN), insisted that the sacks must all be emptied and the ballot papers used in hundreds of polling units be inspected one by one before he would know whether to urge the panel to accept or reject the documents.

The tribunal appealed to the respondents to tender the documents in bulk, saying it would be impossible to open all the sacks and check each of the ballot papers used for the poll.

After agreeing, Olujinmi, who represented Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo ( SAN), raised objection to the admissibility of the documents.

Olujinmi argued that the witness had no connection with the subpoena, which the petitioner wanted to tender through him and that the document was a certified true copy.

The former Attorney General of the Federation also objected to the admissibility of the original ballot papers.

He argued that the witness was not competent to tender them from the bar because he was not the one who authored them.

Jonathan worse than Nebuchadnezzar –Soyinka

 Prof. Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, says President Goodluck Jonathan is worse than neo-Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, describing Jonathan as a President that embraces impunity.

According to the account of the Holy Bible, Nebuchadnezzar at the height of his reign became too arrogant and God tampered with his heart and made him to eat grass and live like an animal for seven years.

The title of the text Soyinka read at the briefing was, “King Nebuchadnezzar – The Reign of Impunity.”

The opening of the address read, “I shall not insist that the historical/biblical figure of Nebuchadnezzar is uniquely apt for the pivotal figure of the ‘democratic’ history in the making at this moment – for one thing, Nebuchadnezzar was a nation builder and a warrior.

“One could argue even more convincingly for the figure of Balthazar, his successor, or indeed Emperor Nero as reference point – you all remember him – the emperor who took to fiddling while Rome was burning. However you should easily recall why I opted for King Nebuchadnezzar – the figure that currently sits on the top of our political pile himself evoked it, albeit in a context that virtuously disclaimed any similarities, even tendencies.”

He blamed Jonathan for the security invasion of the National Assembly, during which lawmakers resorted to scaling the fence of the Assembly complex to gain access to the chambers.

He said, “The act of scaling gates and walls to fulfil their duty by the people must be set down as their finest hour. They must be applauded, not derided. If shame belongs anywhere, it belongs to the Inspector General of Police and his lavish adherence to illegal and unconstitutional instructions – to undermine a democratic structure, and one (to make matters worse) convoked in response to an emergency of dire concern.

“What sticks to this policeman (Abba) is worse than shame, it is infamy. Such a public servant deserves to be publicly pilloried, tried and meted a punishment that is appropriate to treasonable acts, if only to serve as a deterrent to others in positions of responsibility under the law. To demand less is to reduce ourselves below the status of free citizens of a free nation.

“For this latest outrage, one in an escalating series of impunity, the buck stops yet again at the presidency and that incumbent, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, continues to surprise us in ways that very few have conjectured.”

He said the split in Nigeria Governors’ Forum last year in which 16 governors had the final say over 19 other governors showed that the President was willing to do anything to achieve his political goals.

Soyinka said the barring of governors by policemen from entering Ekiti State to campaign for former Governor Kayode Fayemi in June showed that Jonathan was not only a dictator but was encouraging impunity by encouraging security agents to disrespect constituted authority.

He also berated the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, whom he said was appointed for the sole purpose of achieving Jonathan’s selfish ambition.

He said Jonathan was using ethnic sentiments to ensure his return to Aso Rock next year, describing the President’s recent visit to the Obafemi Awolowo University to consult with Yoruba leaders as appalling.

He said doing such on the same day Boko Haram attacked a mosque in Kano was irresponsible, adding that Jonathan’s quest for power had prevented his ability to think out a way to stop terrorists.

He said, “The shambles that punctuated a presidential campaign visit at the OAU a few days ago merely underline the total alienation of President Jonathan from the reality that has engulfed the nation.

“That a national leader should go campaigning on the platform of ethnic support at a time when priorities dictate a united national engagement for survival is a grotesque undertaking that was tragically rebuked in the massacre of worshippers and desecration of the Kano mosques almost simultaneously with the alienated gathering of selected crowned heads.

“Long before Nyanya, long before Chibok, long before the mildest of then now innumerable violations of our basic right to exist as free citizens, the march of a nation towards implosion has dominated the landscape but an obsession with the pettiness of power has obscured remedial vision and thus, the creative options constantly open to prescient leadership.”

Soyinka said the refusal of other countries to continue to help Nigeria in the fight against terrorism was because the foreign countries were cynical of Nigeria’s claim to fight insecurity.

He said by sacking a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Gbenga Ashiru, at a time when Nigeria needed to strengthen its foreign policy, Jonathan had shown the he preferred to play politics than deliver the true dividends of democracy to the people.

He said insecurity would have been curbed if Nigeria had learned from what happened to Mali wherein al-Qeda militants brought the nation to its knees.

He said, “The lesson of Mali was completely lost on complacent leadership, however, leaving time and space for alien invaders to make common cause with the internal, unleashing detruction at will and dancing around a nation whose armed forces have acquitted themselves creditably on foreign missions.

“The architect of the initial policy of containment was the recently deceased Gbenga Ashiru, then Foreign Minister, unceremoniously removed for the ends of premature politicking, before the logical development of that initiative.

“Now of course, the very manipulators of Ashiru’s removal are falling over one another, to heap praises on the quality of his achievements in office.”

Soyinka said Nigeria had come to a point where citizens would now have to defend themselves since the government had failed to ensure the safety of the citizens.

However, the Presidency on Tuesday said Soyinka was only playing the ostrich by accusing Jonathan of being worse than King Nebuchadnezzar.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said, in a text message sent to one of our correspondents, that it was saddening that the Nobel Laureate also failed to apprehend Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, who he described as the “national champion of impunity and official recklessness.”

He said, “Our eminent professor also sadly plays the ostrich as he failed to reprimand Governor Amaechi who is the national champion of impunity and official recklessness.

“The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan proves itself as the most liberal, keeping faith with adherence to rule of law and tolerance.”

Read the full speech here.