Tunisia parties agree on election timetable

Tunisia's political parties have agreed to hold legislative, and then presidential, elections in 2014

The order the elections were to be held in has been the subject of ongoing debate between the parties.

Ennahda, the Islamist party which dominates the National Constituent Assembly, had wanted the legislative vote first, while their opponents mostly sought the opposite

The exact timetable on the elections is due to be adopted on June 23,2014

With its new constitution, and a caretaker administration governing until elections later this year, Tunisia's relatively smooth political progress contrasts with the turmoil in Egypt, Libya and Yemen, which also ousted longstanding leaders three years ago in 2011

Ennahda won the first free election after former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's fall and formed the first government, but the assassination of two secular opposition leaders in 2013 triggered a political crisis.

The decision to hold elections this year was part of a plan agreed by political parties aimed at ending the crisis.