Tunisia's victorious Ennahda party has entered coalition talks with its partners after securing the biggest share of the vote in the first new elections since the Arab Spring.
Early results announced on Monday have the moderate Islamist party, also known as the Renaissance party, with a total of 40% of the vote.
It was obliged to talk to parties on the centre-left, however, due to an electoral system specifically set up to deny any one party an overall majority.
Ennahda's leaders said that it wanted to quell concerns that it would push too far for its own aims.
"Ennahda had serious talks during the electoral campaign and after the elections with secular parties like Ettakatol and the Congress for the Republic (CPR)," Ali Aridhi, a senior official, said according to The Telegraph.
"We do not want to monopolise power. We're calling for a coalition or national unity government."
Sunday's elections were held nine months after dictator Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in the popular uprising that triggered the Arab spring.
Tunisia's centre-left PDP party conceded defeat on Monday.
"The trend is clear. The PDP is badly placed. It is the decision of the Tunisian people. I bow before their choice," its leader Maya Jrib said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the holding of a peaceful and free election.
"This landmark election constitutes a key step in the democratic transition of the country and a significant development in the overall democratic transformation in North Africa and the Middle East," he said in a statement.
The vote was also welcomed by the British government. Foreign Secretary William Hague said the elections showed the way for the rest of the Arab world.
"The significance of the first ever elections in Tunisia to take place in a climate of freedom cannot be overstated both for Tunisians and for the wider region," he said on Sunday.
"I have always been clear that the success of the Arab Spring will be judged very heavily by what happens in Tunisia. People look to Tunisia to lead the way, as it did when the Arab Spring began 10 months ago. That is why these elections are so important."
According to some reports the turnout for the election was over 90 per cent.