Ennahda, opposition deadlocked over PM

TUNIS: Tunisia’s ruling Ennahda party and the opposition were deadlocked in talks Saturday to choose a new prime minister tasked with steering the country out of a months-long political crisis.
Tensions have gripped the country since the 2011 uprising that toppled veteran dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and were exacerbated with the murder this year of two opposition politicians by suspected radicals.
Ennahda, a moderate party whose resignation has been demanded by the opposition, has pledged to step down and allow the creation of a government of independents as part of a road map.
After months of stalling, the government opened talks with the opposition on October 25 to form the new government, agree on a much-delayed constitution and prepare for elections.
The road map to resolve the crisis was drafted by mediators including the powerful UGTT trade union, which announced the latest setback.
It said that a meeting Friday of party leaders to chose a new prime minister became bogged down over who should be appointed to the post from among four candidates.
The delegates agreed to set up a new committee tasked with overcoming the stalemate, the UGTT said in a statement overnight.
The committee is to meet on Saturday at an undisclosed time and would include the head of the National Constituent Assembly, Mustapha Ben Jaafar, Ennahda chief Rached Ghannouchi, and five opposition figures.
The dispute reportedly centers on the frontrunners to become prime minister — Mohamed Ennaceur, 79, and Ahmed Mestiri 88, two veteran politicians and former government ministers.
Both are well respected and have served under the late Habib Bourguiba, who led the fight for Tunisia’s independence from its French colonial masters and served as its first president (1957-1987).
Press reports said Ennahda and its secular coalition partner were backing Mestiri for the premiership, while the opposition was in favor of Ennaceur.
Mestiri held several key portfolios in successive governments under Bourguiba — finance, justice, defense and interior — while Ennaceur is an expert on social affairs.
Prominent economists Mustapha Kamel Nabli and Jalloul Ayed had earlier also been named as frontrunners.
Whoever is tapped for the position will have two weeks to form a government of independents to prepare for elections.
Larayedh has pledged to step down so long as the timetable is respected. The Assembly has until the end of November to draw up a new constitution and an electoral law.