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Moderate Islamists said on Monday their party appeared to be ahead in Tunisia's first free election since an uprising earlier this year that set off the Arab Spring revolts.

They are hinting at a shift in a country long known for its secularism.

Most forecasts point to the Ennahda party emerging with the biggest share of the vote, an outcome that worries secularists and could be replicated in other Arab states when they hold their own post-Arab Spring elections.

One man said that even if Ennahda won most votes, other parties could create coalitions, pushing them into minority.

[Hussein, Local Resident]:
"My feeling is that Ennahda has won. I don't think there is much to be done about that, it's a relative majority in this election. Other parties can make alliances and they can put Ennahda into a position of minority. Ennahda is a favorite now, it can be the first political power but it won't be able to have an absolute majority."

The 217-seat assembly Tunisians are electing will sit for one year.

Turnout was more than 90 percent - a mark of Tunisians' determination to exercise their new democratic rights after decades of repression.

An Ennahda victory would be the first Islamist success in the Arab world since Hamas won a 2006 Palestinian vote.