Tunisia’s incumbent President, Kais Saied, has won a second term in office with a whopping 89.2% of the vote, according to exit polls on Sunday, Anadolu News Agency reported.
Conducted by Sigma Conseil and shared on national television, the polls indicated that Saied garnered more than 2.19 million votes.
His closest challenger, opposition candidate Ayachi Zammel, a businessman and Founder of the “Azimoun” Movement trailed far behind with only 6.9% of the vote, while Zouhair Maghzaoui, the secretary-general of the People’s Movement, received a mere 3.9%.
Although Saied is said to have overwhelming support by Tunisians, there was very low voter turnout. The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) reported a preliminary turnout of 27.7% as of the time polls had closed at 6 p.m. local time. Just over 2.7 million Tunisians participated in the election.
Despite the low turnout, winning reelection reinforces Saied’s power grab of three years ago when he began to undo the democratic gains made by Tunisia after the Arab Spring.