Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Elias El-Fakhakh postponed the announcement of his government’s composition until Saturday evening, in order to "further consult" about it, according to a statement issued by the Tunisian Presidency.
The statement issued on Friday evening stated that the traps met with Tunisian President Qais Said and stated that "in order to complete the path of forming the government in the best conditions, it was decided to postpone the announcement of the composition until tomorrow at 6 pm (17:00 GMT), for more" Consultation and scrutiny of some issues related to the prospective government. "
The traps were due to meet President Saeed on Friday, hand him over to his cabinet, and announce it to reporters.
On Friday morning, Al-Nahda Movement (54 out of 217 seats in Parliament) criticized the names nominated by the traps, and called on it to form a national unity government that includes all the parties represented in Parliament.
"The government proposed by Elias Al-Fakhfakh cannot gain the confidence of the Al-Nahda movement ... It does not have the chances of success and continuity ... We recommend Elias Al-Fakhfakh not to hurry," Abdel-Karim Al-Harouni, head of the movement’s Shura Council, told a press conference after the conclusion of the 37th session of the council.
The movement explained its decision that "the traps decided to neutralize the ministries of sovereignty, but when we checked, we found that the assigned persons are not all neutral."
She explained that the offer presented by the traps is considered "without what is required and does not achieve the goal of national unity, and that there is an imbalance between the participating parties."
A week ago, Parliament Speaker Rashid Ghannouchi stressed that "the government of the traps will not pass and will not gain the confidence of Parliament if the heart of Tunisia (the second party in terms of the parliamentary bloc's arrangement with 38 deputies) is excluded from its formation."
Fakhfakh excluded from his consultations both the "Heart of Tunisia" and the "Free Constitutional Party" (17 deputies), and explained his decision that "they are not in the path of the people and the path of what the people demand."
It is noteworthy that the Tunisian president assigned former Minister of Finance Elias El-Fakhfakh (47 years old) on January 21st to form a government. As for the traps, one month for choosing government ministers, they enjoy the confidence of the deeply divided parliament, a task in which its predecessor, Habib al-Jamali, a candidate for al-Nahda party, failed.
In the event that the Pvt. Government does not win the confidence of Parliament, the President of the country can dissolve Parliament and call for early parliamentary elections, as determined in the 2014 constitution in Chapter 89. In order to gain confidence, the government must obtain the votes of 109 deputies out of 217 who make up the Tunisian Parliament.
The parliamentary elections that took place last October resulted in a parliament with divided blocs, without any party being able to win a majority. This had direct repercussions in Parliament and the depth of political interactions within it, according to observers.