News / North Africa

Tunisia to announce name of new prime minister

Tuesday, 02 August 2016 3:10 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 02 August 2016 3:38 PM ]

A handout picture provided by the Tunisian Presidency Press Service on August 1, 2016, shows Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi (R) meeting with Prime Minister Habib Essid at the Carthage Palace in Carthage, on the outskirts of Tunis. (AFP)

Tunisia will "very possibly" announce the name of a new prime minister soon as President Beji Caid Essebsi holds talks with representatives of the main political blocs, a source close to the president said Tuesday.

The talks began on Monday on naming the new premier to lead a unity government after Prime Minister Habib Essid was voted out of office by the parliament.

"The name of the future head of government will be announced this week, very possibly Wednesday," the source said.

Local media reports said the president had proposed Minister for Local Affairs Youssef Chahed for the position. Chahed, an in-law of President Essebsi, is regarded by critics as a member of a failed government.

Representatives of Essebsi's own party, Nidaa Tounes, as well as those of the Islamic party Ennahda, and the Nobel Prize-winning groups UGTT union and UTICA were present at the negotiations.

Officials in Nidaa Tounes say the new prime minister should come from their party.

Essid lost a parliamentary vote of confidence after only a year and a half in office. His government has been under fire for failing to tackle economic woes, the high unemployment rate and a series of terrorist attacks. Out of the 191 lawmakers present for the vote on July 30, 118 lawmakers voted against Essid. Only three lawmakers supported him and the remaining members of parliament abstained.

Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid (2-R-C) arrives to deliver a speech at the parliament on July 30, 2016, in the capital Tunis. (AFP)

Tunisia has been plagued by violence since the 2011 uprising that ousted the country’s long-time dictator, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.

Last year, the Takfiri Daesh terrorists claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in Tunisia that killed 59 tourists.

Since November 2015, Tunisia has been in a state of emergency in the wake of another deadly attack claimed by Daesh on a bus transporting presidential guards.

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