Secular party wins Tunisian elections

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TUNIS, Tunisia, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The secular party in Tunisia's weekend national elections, Nidaa Tounes, has defeated the Islamist party Ennahda, preliminary counts indicate.

Nidaa Tounes has won 83 seats in Tunisia's Parliament and about 38 percent of the popular vote, compared to Ennahda's 68 seats and about 31 percent of the vote, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported.

Tunisia has maintained -- perhaps better than other Arab countries in North Africa -- the democratic ideals of the Arab revolutions of 2011, and is regarded as a success story.

The Nidaa Tounes party, an alliance of liberals, secularists and former government leaders, is led by former Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebi, 87, and was formed in response to the post-revolution actions of the Ennadha party in power. Nidaa Tournes has been critical of the Islamist drift of the country and has called for a progressive and secular society in Tunisia.

The economy has also declined under Ennadha's leadership.

The vote took place under heightened security, although there were few reports of disruptions of the vote. A reported incident involved the police storming of a hideout of suspected Islamist militants in a suburb of the capital, Tunis, leaving six people dead.

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