Tunisia Parliament Rejects Gov't of PM-designate Habib Jemli Friday Jan 10,2020

Tunisia's parliament has rejected a government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Habib Jemli after months of negotiations between political parties to fill positions.

During a heated day-long parliamentary session on Friday Jan 10,2020, only 72 of the 213 legislators present voted in favour of Jemli's cabinet.

Jemli, an agricultural engineer by training, had in early January announced the formation of a cabinet made up of independent technocrats, a move that came a month after being nominated by the moderate Islamist Ennahdha party to head a new government.

 Ennahdha emerged as the most powerful party after winning the most seats in the country's October parliamentary election. But the self-described Muslim Democratic  party's 52 of a total 217 seats available for grabs meant that it still needed to win the backing of other parties

Tunisian President Kais Saied, who was also elected in October, now has 10 days to designate a new prime minister. If Saied's appointee fails to form a government, parliament is dissolved and a new election will be called.

Friday vote is seen as a big setback for Ennahdha, which has been directly or indirectly in power for a large part of the last nine years, and it risks delaying reforms needed to revive the country's stuttering economy.