Tunisia's new PM vows inclusive govt
Tunis, February 23, 2013
Tunisia's prime minister-designate Ali Larayedh, a hardliner from the main Islamist Ennahda party, said on Friday he hoped to form a "government of all Tunisians", but opposition leaders swiftly signalled discontent.
Tunisia plunged into political crisis on Feb 6 when the assassination of secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid ignited the biggest street protests since the overthrow of strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two years ago.
President Moncef Marzouki asked Larayedh to draw up a government within two weeks after he was formally nominated for prime minister by Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi.
"We will start consultations to form a new government ... a government of all Tunisians," Larayedh said in brief remarks after meeting the secular president.
He urged political parties, trade unions, businessmen and journalists to support his government to achieve the objectives of the North African country's revolution and build democracy.
Ennahda's choice for prime minister raised hackles among opposition parties, some of whom accuse Larayedh's Interior Ministry of failing to curb Islamist violence, although he is credited for acting firmly against Al Qaeda-linked militants.
"The decision deepens the crisis because Larayedh headed the ministry responsible for the killing of Belaid and violence that has spread throughout the country," said Zied Lakhdar, a leader in the Popular Front, in which Belaid was secretary-general.
The Interior Ministry and Ennahda have denied they had any hand in Belaid's killing, which they have condemned.
Mahmoud Baroudi, a leader of the secular Democratic Alliance opposition party, said Larayedh's appointment would aggravate tensions and increase anger in the streets.
"He was responsible for leniency with Islamist violence against human rights activists," he said, blaming Islamists for disrupting opposition meetings and assassinating Belaid. No one has claimed responsibility for Belaid's killing.
JAILED UNDER BEN ALI
Ennahda is the biggest party in the National Constituent Assembly with 89 of its 217 seats. Marzouki's secular Congress for the Republic party (CPR), the second largest with 29 seats, has already said it will join a new Ennahda-led coalition.
Larayedh, 57, is viewed as part of Ennahda's hardline wing, which rejects any role for parties linked to the Ben Ali era.
A maritime engineer, Larayedh spent 15 years in jail under Ben Ali. He became interior minister when the previous government was formed in December 2011.
Outgoing Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who resigned on Tuesday, refused to head the next government after his own Ennahda party rejected his plan for an apolitical technocrat cabinet to prepare for elections.
He was seen as a moderate overruled by Ghannouchi, who says the last election gave Ennahda a popular mandate to rule in a power-sharing deal with moderate secular parties.
"Larayedh is not a man of consensus," said Nejib Chebbi, leader of the secular Republican party. "He failed during his work as head of the Interior Ministry."
Tunisia, whose transition from autocracy has so far been far less violent than those in neighbouring Libya and Egypt, faces rifts between Islamists and their opponents that threaten the stability of its fledgling democracy and ailing economy. - Reuters
