Upcoming president to choose prime minister in Tunis

Tunisian parties, which took part in national dialogue, unanimously agreed that the “upcoming president is authorised to choose the prime minister to form the government,” Secretary General of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) Hussein Al-Abbasi said on Friday.

Abbasi’s remarks came in the wake of a dialogue session held in the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Tunis.

Following the announcement of the final results of the parliamentary elections in the country, wide controversy erupted among the political leaders about who will choose a new prime minister.

Law experts were divided. Some said that the current president Moncef Marzouki is authorised to choose the prime minister whilst other experts said that the upcoming president should.

Al-Abbasi also said that the participant parties called on the sponsors of the national dialogue to ask the Head of the Constitutional Council, Mustafa bin Ja’far, to convene the elected parliament within 15 days.

“However, because of the limited time, we will ask him to convene the parliament before this time,” he said, noting that the Constitution, ratified in January, authorises the head of the Constitutional Council to call for the parliament meeting.

Regarding the current caretaker government, Al-Abbasi said: “It was agreed that it has to keep working until the formation of the upcoming government.”

The committee of the national dialogue in Tunis finishes its role on November 10, 2014 and a celebratory meeting will be held with all the participating parties.

The national dialogue among the main Tunisian parties (21 parties) started on October 23, 2013 to deal with the political crisis erupted by the assassination of the opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi on July 25, 2013.