88-year old veteran politician, Beji Caid Essebsi has been sworn as Tunisia’s first freely elected president.
Essebsi, who was sworn in on Wednesday, December 31, 2014, defeated the former President Moncef Marzouki with 55.68 percent in the presidential vote on Sunday, December 21, 2014 which makes it the first time Tunisians have freely elected their head of state since independence from France in 1956.
After his swearing-in ceremony, he said he will be ‘the President of all Tunisians and the guarantor of national unity.’
Speaking further, Essebsi: ‘There is no future for Tunisia without consensus among political parties and members of civil society, ‘There is no future for Tunisia without national reconciliation.’
‘Now we must demonstrate that this democracy can be turned into economic opportunity and prosperity’