Tunisia's presidential election on Sunday is the most unpredictable in its short experience of democracy, a contest with no overwhelming front-runner at a time of economic angst.
Itwill shape not only indebted Tunisia's approach to foreign relations and thevexed issue of public spending, but also test its consensus model of politicsand the way it practices democracy.
Whileoutsiders, especially in Arab states, are watching the fortunes of the moderateIslamist Ennahda party, many Tunisians have been engrossed by the candidacy ofa media magnate who was imprisoned last month on suspicion of tax fraud, andwhose campaign has focused on the poor.
However,after years of rising unemployment, high inflation and reduced spending onpublic services and subsidies, many Tunisians feel frustration with politics,adding to uncertainty over the outcome and turnout.
"Thingsaren't clear. I still don't see a candidate that is qualified and worthy ofrunning Tunisia," said Houda Ben Ayed, a woman waiting at a tram stop inTunis.
Though Sunday's vote is unlikely to produce a clear winner, with the two top candidates to hold a run-off if none of them win an outright majority, it will still influence a parliamentary election on October 6.
Tunisia'srevolution began with the self-immolation of a desperate vegetable seller inDecember 2010, then mass protests that forced strongman ruler Zine El-AbidineBen Ali to seek exile in Saudi Arabia and soon spread across the Arab world.
Eight years on, Sunday's highly competitive, wide open election shows how Tunisia's path to democracy has run smoother than in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen or Bahrain, where people attempted to follow its example in throwing off autocratic rule.
The televised debates between most of the 24 men and two women running for office were widely watched by voters hoping to whittle down their choices – a far cry from the unopposed 99% election victories under Ben Ali, now lying sick in a Saudi hospital.
Thecrowded field boasts some of Tunisia's biggest names, including current andformer prime ministers and the first ever presidential candidate from thecountry's strongest party, as well as the detained media magnate, Nabil Karoui.
They represent a myriad of ideas unthinkable in most Arab elections, pitting secular liberals against moderate Islamists, free traders against economic protectionists and supporters of the 2011 revolution against those of the old regime.
Noincumbent is running, since former President Beji Caid Essebsi died in Julyaged 92 and the interim president, Mohammed Ennaceur, did not stand.
