TUNIS
Leader of the centrist Nidaa Tounes party, Beji Caid Essebsi, has been confirmed as the frontrunner in Tunisia's presidential elections after winning 39.4 percent of the vote in the Sunday polls, according to figures released Tuesday by Tunisia's electoral commission.
At a press conference, the commission said that Essebsi had clinched some 1.9 million votes, while his main competitor, interim president Moncef Marzouki, came in second with about 1.1 million votes (33.4 percent).
According to the commission, around 3.3 million of the country's 5.2 million eligible voters cast ballots.
The results mean that Essebsi and Marzouki will compete in a runoff election next month, as none of the candidates managed to secure an absolute majority of the vote.
A total of 27 candidates, including one woman, contested Sunday's election for highest post – an office held for 24 years by Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali before a popular uprising in 2011 forced him from power.
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