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Tunisia PM to Announce New Cabinet Line-Up Saturday, or Quit
[An Nahar] Embattled Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said on Thursday he will announce a new government line-up on Saturday, and warned that he will quit if it is rejected.

Jebali has been pushing to form a government of technocrats in defiance of his Islamist Ennahda party since the murder last week of vocal government critic and leftist figure Chokri Belaid plunged the country into political crisis.

"I want to go through with this initiative," Jebali told reporters on the sidelines of consultations with party leaders.

"Tomorrow morning (Friday) I will meet all the parties who have, or have not, accepted this initiative.

"On Saturday I will announce the new government line-up and if it is rejected I will submit my resignation to the president," he added.

Ennahda has rejected a new government made up exclusively of technocrats and called for a pro-Islamist rally on Saturday to back its legitimacy.

The Islamists have joined ranks with the center-left Congress for the Republic Party of President Moncef Marzouki, and two other parties, in proposing that the new cabinet comprise both politicians and independents.

But Jebali on Thursday insisted that the criteria for being in the new cabinet must include non-partisanship as well as a firm engagement by future ministers not to run in the next elections.

Posted by: Fred 2013-02-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=362323