TUNIS — Tunisia's new president was Wednesday sworn in before parliament as the nation completes its democratic transition on the last day of 2014. Beji Caid Essebsi, an 88-year-old veteran of past governments, swore before the parliament dominated by his Nida Tunis Party to protect the country and not exclude any Tunisians. Tunisians kicked off the Arab Spring in 2011 when they overthrew their long-ruling dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. After a rocky transition, partly run by an Islamist party, Tunisians voted in Essebsi and his party, which includes many veterans of the old regime, in a series of elections this fall. The campaign between Essebsi and outgoing president Moncef Marzouki was bitter. At his inauguration, Essebsi said there would be no future for the country without consensus and national reconciliation. Essebsi told parliament 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's opponents have accused him of seeking a return to the era of Ben Ali, who clung to power for 23 years, combining authoritarian rule with a degree of prosperity and stability for his people. Following independence from France in 1956, he became an adviser to the country's founding father and first president, Habib Bourguiba, holding a number of key jobs under him and then Ben Ali. His Nidaa Tounes movement, which won landmark parliamentary elections in October, includes many members of Ben Ali's old ruling party. But the anti-Islamist lawyer says Tunisia has turned a page on the past. Essebsi took 55.68 percent of the presidential vote in the Dec. 21 runoff against Marzouki. It was the first time Tunisians have freely elected their head of state since independence in 1956. Parliament Speaker Mohamed Ennaceur described the oath-taking ceremony as "an exceptional moment in history". The revolution that began in Tunisia spread to many parts of the Arab world, with mass protests in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen. In every country except Tunisia the revolution was followed by violent turmoil or, as in Syria's case, a devastating civil war. Essebsi and the new government will face major challenges. Tunisia's economy is struggling to recover from the upheaval of the revolution and there is a growing threat from militants long suppressed under Ben Ali. — Agencies
