On 7, 8 and 9 September, the 26 candidates  the Tunisian presidential elections took part in the first TV electoral debate in Tunisian history. The debate was organized thanks to the collaboration of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), the High Independent Authority of the Audio-visual Commission, the television channel El Wataniya and the NGO The Munathara Initiative. Some of the questions raised by journalists included national security, the fight against corruption, the death penalty’s abolition and the niqab’s ban in public buildings; issues of utmost importance for Tunisians, as proved by the high audience rates of the debate reported by several media. The socio-economic situation in Tunisia is still very difficult, with a 15% unemployment rate that rises up to 33% among young people. On 17 September, the ISIE published the preliminary results of the elections, which gave the victory to the independent candidate Kais Saied (18.4%) and the businessman Nabil Karoui (15.6%), who will run for the second round of the elections in October.