FRANCE 24 (France), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), REUTERS
TUNIS – Tunisia’s political turmoil continued on Wednesday following Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali’s resignation, after he failed to appoint a non-partisan cabinet of technocrats.
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki is meeting Wednesday with Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the country’s leading party Ennahda to ask him to nominate a new prime minister, according to Al Jazeera.
Although Ghannouchi has said he wants to see Jebali head a new coalition, Jebali said he refused to lead another government without fresh elections and a new constitution, France 24 reports.
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Jebali seated to the left of Marzouki file photo: Samir Abdelmoumen
The ongoing crisis led Standard & Poor’s international ratings agency to downgrade Tunisia’s credit rating late Tuesday, although Reuters reports that negotiations between Tunisia and the International Monetary Fund on a $1.78 billion loan are continuing.
The political stalemate was sparked two weeks ago by the assassination of opposition leader Chokri Belaid in Tunis. Jebali had said he would quit if his own moderate Islamist Ennahda party did not back the new coalition he was trying to form in a bid to restore calm after the killing.
