Nidaa Tounes takes 86 seats in final Tunisia vote count

By AFP

Tunisia

NOV 21, 2014 LISTEN

Faouzi Elloumi (L), co-founder of Tunisia's Nidaa Tounes Party, greets his supporters outside the party's headquarters in Tunis on November 12, 2014. By Fethi Belaid (AFP/File)

Tunis (AFP) - Tunisia's secular Nidaa Tounes party won 86 seats in last month's parliamentary election, knocking moderate Islamists Ennahda into second place with 69 seats, according to definitive official results published Friday.

The final Nidaa Tounes figure was up one on the 85 seats provisionally tallied following the October 26 poll.

It comes just two days ahead of a presidential election expected to be won by Nidaa Tounes leader Beji Caid Essebsi, whose party will have to form a coalition government as it fell short of an absolute majority.

Coming third in the election to the 217-member parliament was the Free Patriotic Union (UPL), led by entrepreneur Slim Riahi, with 16 seats.

The leftist coalition Popular Front coalition took 15, while another 15 parties divided up the balance.

Turnout was 70 percent of registered voters.