Tunisian presidential poll looks set for runoff vote

Marzouki's campaign manager said late on Sunday that his candidate was level with former premier Beji Caid Essebsi, or possibly in the lead.

"At the worst we are even but at best we're between two and four percent ahead," Adnene Mancer told reporters optimistically, after polling closed.

However, exit polls conducted privately showed that former prime minister Essebsi, who had been the favorite among the 27 presidential candidates, had clinched between 42.7 percent of the vote and 47.9 percent.

The same polls showed that Marzouki - who was installed as president by parliament in 2011 rather than being directly elected - had managed to garner between 26.9 percent and 32.6 percent.

A head-to-head contest between the two appears likely. Electoral rules state that there should be a runoff poll between the two leading candidates, should no-one secure more than 50 percent of the vote.

Essebsi's campaign manager Mohsen Marzouk told journalists that a second round was likely, despite his candidate's clear lead.

"Essebsi is ahead according to initial results, with a big difference to the next candidate," said Marzouk. "There is a strong possibility of a second round."

Sunday's vote follows a general election in October when the Nidaa Tounes party won the most seats in the parliament. It beat the moderate Islamist party Ennahda, which won the first free poll in 2011 after the toppling of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Authorities put turnout at around 64.6 percent, with some 5.3 million people eligible to vote. Tens of thousands of police and troops were deployed amid fears that Islamist militants might try to disrupt polling.

Critics have warned that Essebsi, who served under both of the former presidents, aims to restore the old regime. But while Marzouki argues that only he can preserve the gains of the uprising, his own detractors claim he sabotaged the spirit of the revolution by allying himself with Ennahda.

Other candidates in the first round on Sunday included the leftwinger Hamma Hammami, businessman Slim Riahi and the sole female candidate, magistrate Kalthoum Kannou.

rc/av (AFP, AP, Reuters)