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Tunisian Assembly President Mustapha Ben Jaafar (L) greets Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on December 13, 2011 at the constituent assembly in Tunis. (Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images)
Tunisia on Tuesday swore in its new president, Moncef Marzouki, a former dissident who was exiled under the regime of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled nearly a year ago.
“I will be the guarantor of the national interests, the state of laws, and institutions. I will be faithful to the martyrs and to the objectives of the revolution,” Marzouki said in his first address, according to Al-Jazeera television.
After spending more than a decade in exile, Marzouki returned to Tunisia from France after Ben Ali was ousted. He headed the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights from 1989 until he was forced to flee in 1994.
Marzouki added, “Without their sacrifice, I would not be here in this place,” referring to protesters who died during Tunisia’s revolution in January, reported Tunisia Live.
The Arab Spring protests are said to have started in Tunisia, followed by Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Yemen.
Critics have accused Marzouki of kowtowing to the moderate Islamist Ennahdha party, which won the most seats during the country’s parliamentary elections. He will likely appoint a member of the party, Hamadi Jebali, as the country’s prime minister, reported Al-Jazeera.After that, the prime minister will have 21 days to form a new government.
