Tunisia president to meet unions, employers

Essebsi’s call came as Tunisia’s current ruling coalition is struggling to create more growth and jobs after a series of militant attacks battered the North African state’s tourism industry and economy.

“It is time for a change, and for audacity,” Essebsi said in a televised interview. “We need a more courageous alternative that can apply the law and fight against unemployment.”

He said he would meet with the powerful UGTT president to invite him into a new unity government. The UGTT has been one of the main opponents of some of the government’s austerity programs and had recently threatened to call strikes.

Any negotiations to form a new government will need the current cabinet to resign and a parliament approval. But it would also take time to find consensus among secular, Islamist and left-wing parties and the powerful UGTT.

Tunisia has emerged as a political model for democratic change since its 2011 uprising against Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, but economic reforms demanded by its lenders to tackle high unemployment and frustration among its young have lagged behind.