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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
National
Jihen Laghmari

Tunisia counts parliamentary votes as two rivals claim victory

TUNIS, Tunisia _ Tunisia began counting votes from Sunday's parliamentary elections in what's shaping up to be a showdown between a populist party led by a jailed media tycoon, and the North African country's main religious party.

An exit poll by Sigma Conseil suggested Ennahda will lead with 17.5% of the vote, while Heart of Tunisia could be second with 15.6%, local channel Wataniya reported Sunday evening. The same firm's exit poll for last month's presidential elections correctly predicted the main result.

Preliminary results in the vote for Tunisia's 217-member assembly are due by Oct. 10. About 41% of the country's more than 7 million registered voters cast a ballot, according to electoral authorities.

Several analysts had predicted success for Ennahda, which says it has forsworn its former Islamist stance for mainstream conservatism, as well as for Heart of Tunisia, a party founded by mogul Nabil Karoui, who's currently detained on corruption charges he denies. Both parties claimed victory after the polls closed.

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