TUNIS
Calm returned on Tuesday to several parts of Tunisia that had seen violent protests one day earlier after Beji Caid Essebsi was declared the winner of Sunday's hotly-contested presidential runoff vote.
According to Anadolu Agency reporters, calm was restored in the southeastern provinces of Gabès and Tataouine and in Tunis province's town of Le Kram, where angry protests had broken out Monday against Essebsi's victory.
In Tataouine, angry protesters set the office of Essebsi's Nidaa Tounes party ablaze, while demonstrators torched security facilities in the town of El Hamma in Gabes, where they clashed with security forces, injuring at least 13 policemen.
Security troops also used teargas to disperse a demonstration that erupted in Le Kram.
Some activists are calling for "a day of anger" on Tuesday in the country's southern provinces to protest Essebsi's electoral victory.
Essebsi was declared winner of Sunday's poll with 55.68 percent of the vote, while his rival, outgoing interim President Moncef Marzouki won 44.32 percent, according to Tunisia's election commission.
Sunday's presidential election is seen as the last step in the country's transition to democracy following the ouster of autocratic President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in a popular uprising in 2011.
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