Tunisia industry minister chosen to head new government

Tunisian Industry Minister Mehdi Jomaa takes oath of office at Carthage Palace Tunisia's political parties chose Industry Minister Mehdi Jomaa Saturday to head a government of independent figures aimed at pulling the country out of a months-long crisis, the principal mediator said. The voting which took place at the end of the plenary session of the National Dialogue in the northern city of Bardo, put an end to the lingering political standoff in the country.
According to a deal clinched between Tunisia's main parties in October, the new premier has 15 days to form his new government of independents.
He also faces the weighty task of organising elections in 2014.
Ennahda has led a coalition government since the country, the birthplace of the "Arab Spring", held its first ever democratic elections in October 2011.   
However, Tunisia has been roiled by social unrest and political crises ever since, the latest sparked by the murder in July of another opposition politician, Mohamed Brahmi, which triggered calls for the resignation of the coalition government.
Under the roadmap brokered by mediators in October, Ennahda and the opposition pledged to negotiate an interim government of independents.
The interim premier should have been agreed on by early November, but the deadline has been pushed back repeatedly since then.
"We have accepted an apolitical government even though the government of Ali Larayedh has a majority (in the constituent national assembly)," said Ennahda party chief Rached Ghannouchi.
"Tunisia was the first country to experience a revolution and will be the first to be a model of democracy," he said, referring to the wave of popular uprisings that spread through the Arab world.
Opposition party Nidaa Tounes, which boycotted the vote, rejected the idea of having a prime minister who was part of the outgoing government.
Issam Chebbi, a leader of the party, said Jomaa would "not be a prime minister of consensus."
The opposition accuses the current government of failing to rein in Islamist militants, who have stepped up attacks, and failing to deal with an economic malaise that has led to a rise in strikes and protests.
Source: Agencies