The designated Tunisian head of government Elyes Fakhfakh postponed for one day the announcement of the composition of his government expected initially Friday, in order to " continue the consultations ", according to the Tunisian presidency.
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Fakhfakh, former Tunisian finance minister, was appointed on January 20 by President Kais Saied to form a government after January 10 rejection by Parliament of a first cabinet formed under the leadership of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party . He had one month to put together a team capable of convincing a fragmented parliament.
" To carry out the process of forming the government in the best conditions, it was decided to postpone the announcement of its composition until Saturday 5:00 p.m. GMT in order to continue consultations and the examination of certain questions related to the future government ", said the presidency in a statement, without specifying which ones. The press release was published after a meeting Friday evening between MM. Fakhfakh and Saied, to whom the Prime Minister was initially to hand over the list of his cabinet before announcing it to the press.
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Friday, Ennahdha (54 of the 217 seats in Parliament) criticized at a press conference the names mentioned by Mr. Fakhfakh, saying that he " has no chance of success and continuity ". He called on him to form a government of national unity comprising all the parties represented in Parliament. In the event of failure, Mr. Fakhfakh - whose government needs a majority of 109 votes - Mr. Saied will be able to dissolve the Assembly and call early legislative elections. The outgoing government currently manages current affairs.
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