New Tunisia Leaders Announce Government

Moncef Marzouki, leader of the secularist Congress For The Republic Party, is slated to become Tunisia's next president.

The main winners from Tunisia's elections have announced who will hold the top posts in a new power-sharing interim government.


Tunisians on October 25 elected a body whose job will be to write a new constitution.


The vote was held some nine months after dictator Zine el-Abidine ben Ali was overthrown after 23 years in power, in the first of what became known as the "Arab Spring" pro-reform movements.


In the October vote, the moderate Islamist and formerly banned Ennahda party won the most votes, but fell short of an outright majority in the new 217-member assembly.


Under the power-sharing deal announced November 21, Hamadi Jebali from Ennahda will be prime minister, while Moncef Marzouki from the secularist Congress For The Republic is to be president.


Mustafa ben Jaafar from the secular Ettakatol will head the new assembly, which will have a deadline of one year to write the new constitution before elections are held.


The assembly was due to meet for the first time on November 22.

compiled from agency reports