Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda party took the lead in early official results Tuesday, with 15 of 39 seats in five polling districts, including the cities of Sousse and Sfax, the ISIE elections body said. The leftist Congress for the Republic (CPR) was in second place with six seats, followed by a list led by independent candidate Hachmi Haamdi, a rich London-based businessman, with five seats, it said at a press conference.
The results were for the eastern coastal cities of Sousse and Sfax, Tunisia's second city, as well as Jendouba in the north-west and Kebili, a desert town in the centre. Massive numbers of voters elected a new 217-member assembly Sunday in Tunisia's first elections since the toppling of dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in a popular uprising in January that sparked the Arab Spring.