Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed warned Monday February 17 that he would dissolve parliament if the new government unveiled this weekend does not gain the confidence of deputies.
Read also: Four months after the legislative elections, Tunisia still awaits its government
Prime Minister-designate Elyes Fakhfakh presented the list of his ministers on Saturday but said later that negotiations would continue, the moderate Islamists of Ennahda, the first parliamentary force, having rejected it.
Believing that Tunisia was going through its worst political crisis since its independence in 1956, Kaïs Saïed took the lead: " I say it very clearly: if the government does not succeed in gaining the confidence of the parliament, the word will be given back to the people, "he said in a video address.
Read also: Kaïs Saïed, elected president of Tunisia and its revolution
The legislative elections last October resulted in a divided and divided parliament, with no obvious majority. And while Tunisia has experienced high unemployment and low growth since the 2011 revolution, the political class cannot agree on the formation of a new government.
Habib Jemli, the previous Prime Minister-designate (whom Ennahda had proposed), could not obtain the confidence of the Parliament: the deputies rejected on January 10 last by 134 votes against 72 the cabinet which he had formed.
Elyes Fakhfakh, former finance minister and former employee of the French group Total, was appointed ten days later by President Saïed.
