Anti-gay candidate leads in Tunisia’s presidential election

 | 
09/17/2019

Anti-gay law professor Kais Saied won the most votes in the first round of Tunisia’s presidential election, the Tunisian electoral commission announced. This is the country’s second free presidential election since protesters during the 2011 Arab Spring ousted Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Africa News reported that Saied, a political outsider, received 18.4 percent of the votes. In second place is imprisoned media magnate Nabil Karoui, another outsider, with 15.6 percent. Saied and Karoui will face off in a run-off election. This was the first Tunisian presidential campaign with an openly gay presidential candidate, Mounir Baatour, co-founder of the LGBT rights group Shams. His candidacy was disqualified by Tunisia’s Independent High Authority for Elections, but not before it stirred controversy both inside and outside the country’s LGBT community.

Regions: ,

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 04/25/2024
04/24/2024
A “radical feminist” group called the Women’s Liberation Front, that has helped shape anti-trans laws nationwide, has also played a role in a proposed …
Added on: 04/25/2024
04/24/2024
A UK minister has claimed that Rwanda is a “progressive” country where LGBTQ+ migrants will be safe, despite warnings from queer charities. Illegal migration minister Michael …
Added on: 04/25/2024
04/24/2024
Recent Afrobarometer survey data (Round 8, 2019-2021) paints a stark picture with 86% of Kenyans and 93% of Ghanaians expressing intolerance towards the LGBT community. This …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Other News from ,

Added on: 04/25/2024
A UK minister has claimed that Rwanda is a “progressive” country where LGBTQ+ migrants will be safe, despite warnings from queer charities. Illegal migration minister Michael …
Added on: 04/25/2024
Recent Afrobarometer survey data (Round 8, 2019-2021) paints a stark picture with 86% of Kenyans and 93% of Ghanaians expressing intolerance towards the LGBT community. This …
Added on: 04/20/2024
The airwaves buzz with a new and exciting podcast called ‘LivenInspirewithMathabatha’ hosted by an advocate for the LBGTQ+ community Mathabatha Joba every Wednesday from …