Riyaz Patel
With a little over half of votes tallied Monday – a day after Tunisians voted in presidential elections – preliminary results appear to show anti-establishment candidates Kais Saied and Nabil Karoui in the lead.
But both candidates are nowhere close to a majority.
Tunisia’s Independent Higher Authority for Elections (ISIE) said it had gone through 52 percent of ballots, showing Saeid with 18.7 percent of votes and Karoui with 15.5 percent.
Saied, a conservative law professor, and Karoui, a media magnate held in detention since last month, are leading a moderate Islamist candidate and appear set to advance for a runoff vote next month.
A crowded race with 26 presidential contenders has left many otherwise prominent political figures struggling to make a dent in the polls.
Sunday marked the country’s second free presidential poll since the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’ uprising that toppled longtime ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali,
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