Anti-Islamist Beji Caid Essebsi, 88, was sworn in as Tunisia’s first freely elected President at a ceremony in Parliament on Wednesday. The election of Essebsi, a veteran of previous regimes, is seen as a landmark for the birthplace of the Arab Spring, where longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled four years ago.
Essebsi’s victory over outgoing President Moncef Marzouki capped Tunisia’s sometimes troubled transition to democracy and has won praise from Western leaders. Essebsi told Parliament he would be “the President of all Tunisians” and “the guarantor of national unity”.
“There is no future for Tunisia without consensus among political parties and members of civil society,” he said. “There is no future for Tunisia without national reconciliation.”