Liberal party beats Islamists in Tunisian parliamentary poll

A liberal party with ties to the deposed regime took the most seats in Tunisia's parliamentary elections, beating Islamist rivals.

The success of the Nida Tunis (Tunis Calls) party now raises hopes of a peaceful transition in the birthplace of the Arab spring uprisings.

Running on an anti-Islamist platform, the party won 85 of the 217 seats, giving it the right to name a prime minister and lead a coalition government.

The moderate Islamist Ennahda party, which had previously dominated the parliament, won 69 seats, or nearly 32 per cent of the new parliament, representing a loss of 23 seats.

Since overthrowing its dictator in 2011 and kicking off the Arab spring pro-democracy wave, Tunisia has been buffeted by economic turmoil and terrorist attacks.

Analysts have described Sunday's election as a referendum on the Islamist-led coalition's stormy two years in office. They said voters had punished it for a poor economic performance and unfulfilled expectations of the revolution.