Tunisia's New Government Sworn In

Tunisia's new government, headed by Prime Minister-designate Elyes Fakhfakh, was sworn in today, Thursday, before Tunisian President Kais Saied, said Tunisian presidency.

The new government had taken their oaths of office; they won Thursday dawn a confidence vote in parliament after months of political wrangling.

Saied had named Fakhfakh prime minister-designate at the end of January and tasked him with forming a government within a month.

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Indeed, Fakhfakh had put a previous cabinet, however, they were rejected by the Tunisian Islamist party Ennahdha, which won the most seats in October's legislative election but fell far short of a majority in the 217-seat assembly.

However, Fakhfakh's revised lineup won the vote 129 to 77 after a debate that started on Wednesday and lasted for more than 14 hours.

Ennahdha had given its support to the new cabinet, after being handed six portfolios.

The new government is the sixth in the history of Tunisia to take office since the 2011 revolution.

The new cabinet – consist of 32 members including 6 women– will be tasked with re-launching discussions with the International Monetary Fund, which in 2016 approved a four-year, three-billion-dollar loan for Tunisia in return for major reforms, some of which are disputed.

It is worth mentioning that Saied has threatened, on February 17, to dissolve parliament and call for early elections if the new government headed by Fakhfakh failed to gain the parliamentary confidence vote “to get the country out of the worst political crisis since its independence in 1956.”

During his meeting with Parliament Speaker, Saied said that the constitution is the only reference, adding, “if the new government fails to gain the confidence vote, the parliament will be dissolved, and the Tunisian people will have the final word.”

However, Tunisian union and business leaders intervened and organized weeks of shuttle diplomacy in an attempt to get rival parties to agree on a compromise solution.