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Tunisia parliament sets date for unity government vote
8-23-2016
Tunisia's parliament will meet on Friday to hold a vote of confidence on a new unity government announced over the weekend by premier-designate Youssef Chahed.
Parliament spokesman Hassen Fathalli said Chahed would present his proposed new cabinet to lawmakers at the session before they discussed the line-up.
If his cabinet is confirmed by parliament, Chahed, 40, would become Tunisia's youngest prime minister since the North African country won independence from France in 1956.
He was appointed by President Beji Caid Essebsi early this month after lawmakers passed a vote of no confidence in premier Habib Essid's government after just 18 months in office.
On Saturday, Chahed -- a member of Essebsi's Nidaa Tounes party -- said he would head a 27-member cabinet which will also include 14 ministers of state, eight women "in important" positions and "14 young" ministers.
On Sunday, the Islamist Ennahda party, the largest in parliament, said it has "some reservations" about the line-up.
Two Ennahda ministers figure in the proposed cabinet, as opposed to one previously.
If approved, the new government will have to tackle the economic and social crises gripping the North African country since the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Chahed will also have to address security in the country after a wave of jihadist attacks, including two that killed dozens of foreign tourists last year.
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