PM Larayedh unveils new Tunisian cabinet amid tensions

Larayedh has submitted his new cabinet list to President Moncef Marzouki Tunisia – Azhar Jarboui Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Ali Larayedh has unveiled a new coalition government, aimed at steering the divided country through a stormy period of democratic transition. Larayedh, a member of the powerful Islamist Ennahda party, said he submitted his line-up to President Moncef Marzouki and was confident parliament will give the cabinet its vote of confidence.
His announcement on state television came just hours before a midnight deadline and after two weeks of fraught discussions, tensions and uncertainty sparked by the February 6 murder of leftist politician Chokri Belaid by a suspected radical Muslim.
The new cabinet will be dominated by existing Troika ruling parties – among them Larayedh’s Ennahda and Etakkatol.
Key portfolios -- which had been at the centre of a tug of war between Islamists and the opposition -- were given to independent candidates little known by most Tunisians.
Lotfi Ben Jeddou, who served as prosecutor in the western town of Kasserine, will head the Interior Ministry, while veteran diplomat Othman Jarandi, a former ambassador to the United Nations and Jordan, becomes Foreign Minister.
University professor Rachid Sabagh will head the Defence Ministry and former judge at the court of cassation Nadhir Ben Ammou becomes the new Minister of Justice.
These appointments reflect a key concession by Ennahda to hand key ministries to non-partisan figures, with parties in the outgoing coalition getting less sensitive posts.
Larayedh announced on Friday that his new government would serve until the end of 2013.
The country’s National Constituent Assembly is still working on setting a date for upcoming legislative and presidential elections, although they are expected to take place in the winter of 2013.