Algeria’s Interim President Abdelkader Bensalah congratulated Tunisian president-elect Kais Saied in a phone call on Monday, reported Xinhuanet.
Backed by the conservative Ennahdha party, Saied has pledged to fight corruption and support decentralisation. The 61-year-old law professor won the Tunisian presidential election by a huge margin.
“The brotherly Tunisian people has made proof of maturity in this important and historic national merit,” President Bensalah said, according to state-run ENTV.
The Algerian president reassured his determination to strengthen the cooperation and relations between Algeria and Tunisia in a way that would achieve their common interests.
As an independent presidential candidate, Saied garnered 72.71 percent of the votes in the second round of the presidential election held on Sunday, defeating Nabil Karoui, a media mogul and leader of the Heart of Tunisia party. Karoui had campaigned from prison after being arrested on charges of money laundering and tax fraud. In the first round of voting, Mr Karoui got 15.6% of the vote, while Mr Saied got 18.4% of the vote.
The election, which was earlier scheduled for later this year, was moved ahead after the death of former President Beji Caid Essebsi on July 25.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also congratulated Saied for his election win during a phone call, according to Turkey’s Communications Directorate. Erdogan also wished him success.
Algeria has been witnessing protests and rallies on Friday for more than 31 consecutive weeks. The mass protests led to the exit of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April after 20 years in office.
Last month, the interim president scheduled elections in Algeria on December 12. But Algerians have rejected the election arguing that the vote cannot be free or fair if the military and senior officials tied to Bouteflika retain political power.
