Tunisia’s designated Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh announced a new coalition government on Wednesday after Ennahda moderate Islamist Party, the biggest party in Parliament, gave a nod to the proposed government, thereby putting an end to the ongoing political crisis in the country, reported Reuters.
Fakhfakh has picked former PriceWaterhouseCoopers France associate Nizar Yaich as finance minister and Noureddine Erray, currently ambassador to Oman, as the foreign affairs minister.
In a televised address, Fakhfakh said the proposed lineup reflects the supremacy of Tunisia’s interests and that his team will strive to unite Tunisians and not pull them apart.
The new proposed government is most likely to win a confidence vote in Parliament as it has received a nod from Ennaha, which urged its lawmakers to support Fakhfakh’s government in a vote later this month.
Last week, the designated prime minister proposed the line-up of a new government and submitted the list of cabinet nominees to President Saied. The list included the names of Nizar Yaich as the finance minister, Nourredine Erray as the foreign minister and Imed Hazgui as the defence minister.
But, the proposed names were rejected by the Islamist Ennahda Party, which won 53 seats in the last election. The party members said they would join only a unity government that brings together parties from across Tunisia’s political spectrum.
Heart of Tunisia, the second-biggest political party with 38 seats, also said it would not support the government after Fakhfakh excluded it from the coalition.
But, now that all the major political parties have agreed to the new proposed government, Fakhfakh will be able to avoid his predecessor Mr. Habib Jemli’s fate.
Jemli was nominated as the prime minister by the Ennahda party. After he failed to get his cabinet endorsed by parliament, President Kais Saied got a chance to ask his own candidate, Fakhfakh, to form a cabinet.
