By Rachid Jerray
TUNIS
President Moncef Marzouki on Sunday urged young Tunisians to help prevent the political come-back of the old regime they helped ouster in the 2011 revolution.
"The Tunisian [democratic] experience still faces the threat of despotism by those who have been violating civil freedoms for 50 years," Marzouki told thousands of supporters in his first presidential campaign rally.
Marzouki, who was elected president by the interim parliament a few months after the revolution that toppled long-serving autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, urged young Tunisians "not to waste the historic opportunity to defend the revolution."
He suggested that a group of "crooks are still trying to destroy the revolution and bring back the old regime figures."
Last week, Nidaa Tounes Party, which comprises former officials of the Ben Ali regime, clinched the most seats by a single party in the first post-Ben Ali democratic parliamentary elections.
The party's leader, Beji Caid Essebsi, who served as parliament speaker under Ben Ali, is contesting the upcoming presidential polls, scheduled for November 23.
Tunisia's 5.2 million eligible voters will choose a president from among 27 candidates in what will be the last milestone in the country's transitional phase which began in the wake of Ben Ali's ouster.
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