TUNIS
Tunisian presidential frontrunner Beji Caid el-Sebsi claimed Monday that his rival Moncef Marzouki had received support from "Salafists", "Jihadists" and "violent revolutionary groups" in the first round of the presidential elections.
"Unfortunately, there will be polarization between Islamists on one hand and non-Islamists and democrats on the other," Sebsi told Radio Monte Carlo in an interview.
Sebsi came eight points ahead of Marzouki, the interim president, in the first round of the election on Sunday.
Sebsi claimed that support by Islamists had propelled Marzouki to the second position.
"We could not get 51 percent of the votes in the first round, because some allied parties failed to make the necessary mobilization," Sebsi said.
His comments have, however, angered his rival's campaign.
"We are not surprised by these comments," Adnan Munsir, the manager of Marzouki's presidential campaign, told The Anadolu Agency. "His [Sebsi's] anti-democracy spirit was not born only yesterday," he added.
He said Tunisia was in a bad need for accord, mutual respect and a real democratic spirit.
"We do not believe that Mr. Sebsi, who spent all his life serving dictatorships, can get rid of his anti-democracy culture," Munsir said. "This poses danger to Tunisia's democratic transition in the future," he added.
A presidential runoff is almost certain in Tunisia after counting two thirds of the votes of Sunday's vote.
Vote counting so far had shown Sebsi winning 42 percent of the votes and Marzouki 34 percent.
The second round of the elections is expected to be held late next month.
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