Tunisia set to unveil coalition government
Prime minister-designate says parties have reached a deal aimed at ending the country’s political crisis.
Tunisia’s new coalition government is set to be unveiled, prime minister-designate Ali Larayedh has said, after a deal was reached in last-minute talks aimed at ending the country’s political crisis.
A final round of talks was held on Friday morning, with the new cabinet lineup to be presented to the President Moncef
Marzouki in the afternoon, his office said.
Larayedh, the outgoing interior minister, said the parties had reached an agreement on a political programme for the new government that would guide its priorities, policies and commitments, according to Marzouki’s office.
The president’s office had earlier said that the new cabinet lineup would be unveiled by Larayedh late on Thursday. No reason was given for the delay.
Larayedh was tapped on February 22 to head a new government, with a two-week deadline to present his team and government programme to Marzouki. The deadline runs out at midnight on Friday.
The hopes of Larayedh and his ruling Islamist party Ennahda to form a broad-based coalition appeared compromised after three political parties that had been asked to join earlier announced they were pulling out of the talks.
Consequently, only Ennahda and its secular allies in the previous government – Marzouki’s Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol – actually took part in discussions about the composition of a new cabinet and a proposed government programme.
Key concessions
Ennahda, to which Larayedh also belongs, has made a key concession in accepting that key ministries such as interior and justice be entrusted to independent candidates.
Tunisia has been in a political crisis since the February assassination of leftist politician Chokri Belaid, a vocal critic of the Islamist-led government.
Belaid’s murder led to the resignation of prime minister Hamadi Jebali after he failed to forge a non-partisan government of technocrats when Ennahda refused to support his efforts.
If a cabinet is not named by Friday night, Marzouki must choose another politician to form a government.
After the president reviews the plan, the new government lineup must be approved by the National Constituent Assembly within three days.
In addition to the political upheaval, violence and attacks blamed on the conservative Muslim Salafist movement have rocked Tunisia in recent months.
There have also been protests sparked by growing unemployment and poverty – the key problems that triggered the 2011 revolution.