Tunisia's election commission has postponed until next week the release of the final results of the country's first free presidential elections because of appeals filed against the initial tallies. "Final results will be announced on Monday after the Administrative Court rejected on Friday the appeals presented by two citizens," said the head of the commission, Shafiq Sarsar, according to the online edition of the Tunisian newspaper al-Chourouk.
The court said that the plaintiffs had no capacity to contest the outcome of the vote, Sarsar added. The commission was originally scheduled to release the final results on Friday after outgoing president Moncef Marzouki, defeated in the run-off, said he would not appeal the results.
Beji Caid Essibsi, a former prime minister, won 56 per cent of the ballots cast in the second round on December 21, while Marzouki received 44 per cent, according to preliminary results.
Marzouki, a human rights advocate, has promised to hand over power on Tuesday, in a move aimed at easing post-election unrest.
Several areas in Tunisia have seen riots in response to Essibsi's victory. His detractors regard him as part of the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the long-time autocrat who was ousted in the 2011 uprising.
Essibsi, now 88, served in several high-ranking positions under the founder of independent Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba, and his successor Ben Ali.
No date has been set for Essibsi's eventual inauguration.
Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring revolts, is widely seen as the sole success story of the Arab revolutionary movements.
Uprisings in Libya, Syria and Yemen have all led to conflicts, while Egypt saw its Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, elected in 2012, deposed by the army a year later after mass protests against his rule.
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