Tunisia swears in post-Ben Ali president

TUNIS, Tunisia, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki vowed to uphold the spirit of the revolution that sparked the Arab Spring during his swearing-in ceremony Tuesday.

A December 2010 protest suicide sparked the country's Jasmine Revolution, which led to the ouster of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali after roughly two decades in office.

That revolution spilled over to encompass much of the region, pushing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak out of office, leaving Moammar Gadhafi dead and Syrian and Yemeni regimes under fire.

Marzouki promised to remain faithful to the martyrs of the revolution while taking the oath of office Tuesday over the Koran.

"Without their sacrifice, I wouldn't be here in this place," he was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying.

He was the leader of the Tunisian League for Defense of Human Rights from 1989 until he was forced into exile in 1994. He's expected to name Ennahda leader Hamadi Jebali as prime minister, leading to criticism the new president is being propped up by the moderate Islamist party, al-Jazeera adds.

He secured the presidency with 153 votes from the 217-member legislative assembly, controlled by Ennahda. Several opposition leaders handed in blank ballots.

His Congress Party for the Republic took second place in the October elections, the first of any of the countries caught up the Arab Spring.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/12/13/Tunisia-swears-in-post-Ben-Ali-president/UPI-15711323799304/.