Anti-Islamist Beji Caid Essebsi, 88, was sworn in Wednesday as Tunisia's first freely elected president vowing to work for national reconciliation, four years after an uprising that sparked the Arab Spring. The election of Essebsi, a veteran of previous regimes, is seen as a landmark for the North African nation, where long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in 2011.
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 after a swearing-in ceremony that 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."
Essebsi also attended a handover ceremony at the presidential palace where he was embraced by the outgoing leader. Marzouki, an exiled human rights activist during Ben Ali's rule, was elected president at the end of 2011 by an interim assembly under a coalition deal with the then-ruling moderate Islamist movement Ennahda. Essebsi's Nidaa Tounes movement, which includes many members of Ben Ali's old ruling party, won landmark parliamentary elections in October.
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