Tunisia's moderate Islamist Ennahda came first in Sunday's parliamentary election, a party spokesperson said in a news briefing broadcast online, citing what he called preliminary results.

The head of a rival party, Heart of Tunisia, earlier on Sunday said it had won the election.

A survey by Tunisian company Sigma Conseil showed Ennahda securing 17.5 percent votes followed by Heart of Tunisia in the second position with 15.6 percent votes.  

The survey revealed that the Free Destourian Party (Free Constitutional Party) ranked the third.

The representative of Sigma Conseil claimed that the margin of error of this exit poll varies between one and two percent.

Meanwhile, head of the Independent High Authority for Elections Nabil Baffoun announced that the turnout in the legislative elections reached 41.32 percent in the Tunisian territory.

The polling centers for the parliamentary elections opened on Sunday in 24 provinces of Tunisia.

More than 15,000 candidates from different parties, party coalition and independent candidates were competing for the 217 seats in the Assembly of People's Representatives. 

(With input from Reuters, Xinhua)

(Cover: Rached Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia's moderate Islamist Ennahda party, speaks to supporters after the party gained most votes in Sunday's parliamentary election, in Tunis, Tunisia October 6, 2019. /Reuters Photo)