Beji Caid Essebsi, the 88-year-old ex-prime minister, is likely to become the next president of Tunisia.

Even though the election is heading for run-off between Essebsi and interim president Mouncef Marzouki, the odds are in favour of Essebsi, who is a former Ben Ali official and founder of the Nidaa party, which won a plurality of the seats in the recent legislative poll.

Essebsi appeals to Tunisians as the "new Bourguiba," Tunisia's first post-independence leader – a reference to the secular, modern state he advocates, Tunisia Live reported.

Even though many Tunisians believe that Essebsi is the "saviour" of Tunisia, many others (mainly those who participated in the 2011 uprising against former dictator Ben Ali) fear that his return to power will restore the old regime, having served for both former presidents.

The Tunis Times said Essebsi was "Resurrected from the dead to rescue Tunisia" and added that he is currently the only candidate with a clean record.

His campaign of “state prestige" appeals to his supporters who are anxious for an end to socio-politico-economic crises, and his supporters also believe that only he can face Islamist Ennahda, who became a weakened force in both parliamentary and presidential elections.

Ennahda's rank and file have abandoned their support for Marzouki because the leadership of the party obliged them to do so, fearing for future relations with Nidaa. 

Tunisians voted Sunday in the first democratic presidential election in the country’s history.

Exit polls conducted by a private organisation gave Essebsi between 42.7 percent and 47.8 percent of the vote, with Marzouki trailing at between 26.9 percent and 32.6 percent.

Official results from what Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa called a "historic day" will be known by Wednesday and a run-off second round vote will be held in late December if there is no outright winner, AFP reported.

Essebsi’s long political career includes posts as interior minister under the government of Habib Bourguiba, and foreign minister and Chamber of Deputies president under Ben Ali. He also served as prime minister from February to December 2011.