http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/world/africa/nidaa-tounes-ennahda-tunisian-parliamentary-election.html 2014-10-27 12:36:33 Secular Party Sweeps Tunisian Parliamentary Election in Preliminary Count Nidaa Tounes defeated its main rival, the Islamist party Ennahda, according to an independent tally of results across the country. === TUNIS — The secular party Nidaa Tounes has won the largest number of seats in Nidaa Tounes has won 83 seats with roughly 38 percent of the popular vote, to Ennahda’s 68 seats, representing about 31 percent of the vote, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported after tabulating its own count of 214 of the 217 parliamentary seats. Officials from the both parties said that although premature, the count matched their information. Official results have not yet been released, and parties are restrained by law from announcing their own count before the election commission does. Provisional results are expected on Monday, but final results will take at least 48 hours. Early results also showed a surprise gain for the party of the Tunisian tycoon Slim Riahi, who ran a flashy campaign of handouts and pop concerts. Some of the smaller political parties have fared badly under a new voting system, in particular Ettakatol, a coalition partner in the former government. Nidaa Tounes, led by former Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, 87, is an alliance of former government officials, liberals and secularists that was formed in 2012 largely in reaction to the post-revolutionary chaos under the Ennadha-led government. It was sharply critical of the Islamists’ performance and ran a campaign for a modern secular society. The results, if confirmed, will be a blow for Ennahda, which won a large popular vote and 89 seats in 2011, but struggled to manage rising insecurity and a sliding economy. Tunisians filled polling stations on Sunday to elect a new Parliament, expressing a strong desire and some trepidation that, after months of political turmoil, the country would turn a corner nearly four years after a revolution. Officials said the provisional turnout was nearly 62 percent, which election observers said demonstrated Tunisians’ support for democracy. The elections are the second in