Tunisian parliament on Friday rejected the government of Tunisia’s prime minister-designate Habib Jemli.
Jemli announced earlier in January the formation of a cabinet of independent technocrats, more than a month after he was picked to head a government focused on reviving the economy.
But this was voted down after a lengthy session that went late into the evening on Friday, with Jemli’s proposed government only winning 72 votes, with 134 lawmakers voting against him.
Tunisian President Kais Saied is now expected to nominate a new prime minister-designate who will be tasked with forming a government for the parliament to approve.
In the meantime, the North African country will continue with a caretaker government under incumbent prime minister Youssef Chahed.
Jemli, a nominee of the moderate Islamist Ennahda movement, had said that the new government comprised independent Tunisians from outside the homeland.
But he did not disclose names.
“I have depended [in forming the cabinet]on elements of competence and independence from political parties,” Jemli, a 60-year-old agricultural engineer, said after a meeting with Tunisian President Kais Saied on Wednesday.
Ennahda emerged as Tunisia’s strongest political force in Tunisia’s legislative polls, held in October, garnering 52 seats.
Tunisia, the birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring revolts, has been roiled by social unrest and economic hardships in recent years.
The North African country has been under pressure from international lenders to take drastic measures to revamp its economy.
