KAIS SAIED, a political outsider who is backed by Islamists and leftists and wants to remake national politics, won a landslide victory in Tunisia’s presidential election which he hailed as a “new revolution.”

Saied won 73 percent of the votes cast in Sunday’s election, according to preliminary official results released by the electoral commission Monday. The voter turnout was 55 percent. His opponent, Nabil Karoui, had already conceded defeat.

Saied’s victory is a stinging rebuke for a governing elite that has failed to improve living standards or end corruption since the 2011 revolution in the North African country.

Saied, a 61-year-old retired law professor, wants to introduce an experimental form of direct democracy. However, he has no political party of his own and faces big challenges including high inflation and unemployment.

“What I have done is a new revolution,” Saied told a crowd of supporters gathered at his home in the Mnihla district on the outskirts of Tunis after his landslide victory became clear. “I tell Tunisians that you have impressed the world.”

His opponent Nabil Karoui, a media mogul, was detained in August pending a verdict in his trial for money laundering and tax evasion – accusations which he denies – and was released only last Wednesday. However, Karoui conceded defeat and congratulated him several hours before the preliminary results were announced.

Even with a large mandate, the new president has less direct control of policy than the prime minister, and both will quickly face a series of challenges.

The government faces unemployment of about 15 percent, inflation of 6.8 percent, high public debt and a weak dinar.

(CGTN)