Tunisia's moderate Islamist party Ennahda said Tuesday it had won more than 40 per cent of seats in the country's first free elections, but the official election results have yet to be announced, DPA reported.
Abdelhamid Jelassi, campaign manager of Ennahda, which was banned under ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, said the party's own count gave it more than 40 per cent of the seats in the 217-seat constituent assembly. He also said that Ennahda would begin talks with all other parties on the formation of democratic institutions.
Tunisia's independent election authority was to announce the official results from Sunday's vote later Tuesday night.
More than 70 parties ran candidates in the election of a constituent assembly, which will draw up a new constitution over the next year and appoint a new transitional government.
Forecasts showed Ennahda, which was not instrumental in January's Jasmine Revolution but is seen as having put up the most resistance to Ben Ali's corrupt rule for years before that, as winning at least 60 seats.
The only confirmed results so far, from the overseas vote, gave it nine of the 18 seats reserved for overseas candidates.
Rachid Ghannouchi's party, which models itself on Turkey's ruling Justice and Development party, says it hopes to form a broad union with other parties.
The two parties that looked to have come in second and third - the Congress of the Republic, a party that was also banned under Ben Ali, and Ettakatol, a social-democratic party - have indicated they could join such a union.
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