Former interior minister to appoint a government after being chosen for his experience in security and the economy

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A former Tunisian interior minister has been nominated as prime minister to form a new government after an agreement among political parties in the newly elected parliament.

The nominee, Habib Essid, worked in the government of autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali but was also interior minister after the 2011 revolution that ended Ben Ali’s one-party rule and forced him into exile.

Essid’s nomination follows the election as president of Beji Caid Essebsi, also a former Ben Ali minister. Essebi’s secular Nidaa Tounes party holds the most seats in the new parliament.

“We have chosen Essid because he is independent and has experience in the areas of security and the economy,” the speaker of Congress, Mohamed Naceur, said outside the congressional palace.

Essid will now appoint a government that must then be approved by a vote in the parliament.

Tunisia has been praised as a model for its transition to democracy and its new constitution and free elections held since the 2011 uprising. The north African state has mostly avoided the political strife faced by other Arab spring countries.

Essid, a US-educated agricultural economist, joins other former government officials making a comeback though the ballot box after parliamentary and presidential elections since October that were the final steps to full democracy. Critics worry their return is a setback for the 2011 revolution.

President Essebsi has promiised to govern for all Tunisians and said he had the technocratic background to manage security and economic challenges.