Hand-counting delays Tunisian results

Tunisian authorities said Monday, following universal praise for weekend elections, preliminary results were delayed because of counting difficulties. Roughly 4.1 million people had registered to vote in the nation of about 10.4 million people. Election officials said nearly all of the registered voters turned out to elect the 217 members who will make up a constitutional assembly. The assembly will draw up a new constitution within one year and pick an interim government until new elections are scheduled. The moderate Islamic Ennahda party was expected to win a plurality of the seats but without the majority needed to form a coalition. Sami Ben Slama, a member of the Independent Higher Authority for Elections, was quoted by the Tunisian News Agency as saying preliminary results would be delayed because of problems with manual ballot counting. The IHAE, he said, "did not resort to mechanical counting as it could undermine credibility and transparency of the results." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement issued through his spokesman's office, hailed the orderly elections in Tunisia. "This historical election represents a major step in the process of democratic change in North Africa and in the Middle East in general," he added. A protest suicide sparked the Jasmine Revolution in December that ended President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's tenure after more than 23 years in power. The revolution is credited with sparking the so-called Arab Spring, which brought political change to Egypt and Libya and threatens regimes in Syria and Yemen.