Election officials in Tunisia are counting ballots Monday after a key vote to select the country’s first parliament since adopting a new constitution in January.

Preliminary results could be announced Monday, with the final tally due by Thursday.

Ahead of the vote, the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party and leading secular party Nidaa Tounes were expected to win the most seats in the 217-member parliament.

Nidaa Tounes leader Beji Caid Essebsi said his party had “positive indications” it could be leading after polls closed Sunday.

Some 90 parties competed in the election, the latest democratic step since Tunisians overthrew autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

Ennahda dominated elections post-revolution elections that year, and party leader Rachid Ghannouchi described Sunday’s vote as “historic.”

In the United States, President Barack Obama hailed the election an important milestone in the country’s historic political transition. He said Tunisians continue to “inspire people across their region and around the world.”

Tunisia has been relatively peaceful since becoming the first country to topple its government in a wave of popular uprisings that spread across the region.

However, there has been some discontent over the slow pace of change and the continued economic problems following the revolution that was partly motivated by a lack of jobs.

The country has experienced some turmoil in the last three and a half years, including political assassinations, labor unrest, high inflation and attacks from Islamist extremists.

Still, Tunisia’s democratic transition has remained on track, unlike other countries that experienced Arab Spring uprisings. 
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