Tunisia presidential election heads for run-off

After counting nearly two-thirds of votes in Tunisia’s presidential election, front-runners Beji Caid el-Sebsi and Moncef Marzouki were seen heading to a run-off.

Initial results showed that Sebsi, head of the centrist Nidaa Tounes party, snatched nearly 42 percent of votes, while incumbent president Marzouki got 34 percent, according to an Anadolu Agency tally.

The campaigns of both Sebsi and Marzouki conceded that none of the two candidates secured an outright victory in Sunday’svote.

A total of 27 candidates, including a woman, competed in Sunday’s vote for the top post, which was kept for 24 years by Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, before a popular uprising ended his regime in 2011.

Some election violations were documented throughout the day, but the election commission said these violations had not affected the elections themselves.