Tunisia’s Tahya Tounes party on Sunday elected Prime Minister Youssef Chahed as its president. The secular party founded in January this year has confirmed expectations of Chahed’s leadership months before parliamentary and presidential elections slated for November 2019, reported Reuters.
The party’s formation followed months of wrangling within the ruling coalition’s Nidaa Tounes party which resulted in the resignation of dozens of leaders. The ruling coalition has been weakened making governing a major challenge. The coalition also has moderate Islamist party Ennahda as a member.
Tahya Tounes party (Long Live Tunisia) includes ministers in the government of Chahed and a number of lawmakers. The party said it is expecting a comfortable win in the next elections to pursue stalled economic reforms. Elections are due by the end of this year. According to polls, Tunisia’s largest party, which also has Ennahda as a member, is favored to win.
Sources said Chahed will continue as Prime minister until the next elections and will not resign.
The election was initially scheduled on November 10, but, Tunisia’s elections commission in March said that presidential election will take place on November 17 and not on the previously set date. The date was delayed as the officials said the initial date set for the election conflicted with an Islamic holiday and many Tunisians are expected to travel on the said date.
The North African country experienced an uprising in 2011 mainly over lack of jobs and economic opportunities that forced the long-serving leader, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to exit power without triggering the kind of violent upheavals seen in Syria and Libya.
Since then, nine cabinets have failed to resolve Tunisia’s economic problems, including high inflation, high unemployment rate and lack of economic opportunities. Impatience is rising among lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, who have helped keep the country afloat.
