The Tunisian Prime Minister-designate, Hisham El-Mechichi, decided his choice to go towards forming an independent government of competencies, ruling out the role of parties in it, to distance himself from the calls made by major parties to form a political government that takes into account the results of the legislative elections and parliamentary representation.

Al-Meshishi - who was entrusted by the President of the Republic, Qais Saeed, to form the government on July 25, to succeed the resigned Prime Minister, Elias Fakhfakh - announced that he would proceed to form a government of independent and nonpartisan competencies.

He justified his decision by the impossibility of finding a formula to form a government that brings together the political parties in light of the divergence of positions between the political parties and the absence of guarantees for any political stability for the next government, and the citizen's loss of confidence in the ability of the political elites to meet their most basic needs.

Al-Meshishi pointed out that the national duty and responsibility require him to form a government of economic and social achievement, completely independent and far from the logic of political disputes and rivalries, and that its members meet the conditions of integrity, efficiency and readiness, as he put it.

The Prime Minister-designate's announcement of the nature of the government that he will proceed to form comes after major political parties - at the forefront of the Ennahda Movement and the Heart of Tunisia - called for him to form a political government that takes into account parliamentary representation and the balances produced by the recent legislative elections.

A departure from democracy

Commenting on al-Mashishi's decision to go towards forming a government of independent competencies, the leader of the Ennahda Movement, Ali Al-Areed, affirmed the movement’s adherence to forming a political government that takes into account the size of the parties in Parliament, adding to Al-Jazeera Net, “I consider that we are gradually moving away from democracy.”

Al-Arrayed stressed that the final position of his party will be determined in light of meetings between the leaders of the movement and others with parliamentary blocs.

He pointed out that the argument of the head of government in charge of the impossibility of forming a party government due to the lack of harmony between parties and parliamentary blocs is an answer to him, given that Ennahdha had previously nominated political figures with the consensus of more than 140 deputies, according to him.

The head of the Dignity Coalition, Saifuddin Makhlouf, said that the Machhishi's decision to form a government of independent competencies in parliament is a "coup against the will of the people and a deviation of the secretariat," stressing that it will not give it confidence in parliament.

In local media statements, Makhlouf indicated that the decision by the Mechanically was not his choice, but rather an imposition was imposed on him from within the presidential palace "with the aim of marginalizing the parties and marginalizing the results of the legislative elections."

Dangerous indicator

For his part, the spokesman for the Heart of Tunisia Party, Mohamed Sadiq Jabnoun, told Al-Jazeera Net about his concern about the existence of a trend to neglect the role of the parties, describing it as a dangerous indicator threatening democracy.

Jabnoun indicated that the issue of the absence of a political and parliamentary belt in support of the government of competencies that Al-Meshishi will lead will pose major problems regarding the passage of bills that will be presented to Parliament.

He said that "Heart of Tunisia" will continue its consultations with the designated prime minister, and will interact with him positively out of national duty and despite his reservations about the form of government.

Bewildering parties

The leader of the Democratic Movement, Hisham al-Ajbouni, expressed his apprehension about the decision of the prime minister in charge of excluding the role of the parties even before the formal end of the consultations, and whether there was a deliberate intention to vilify them or collectively punish them by imposing a fait accompli policy, as he put it.

In a statement to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Ajbouni stressed that "democracy is based on the people's accountability for the parties they elected," and he wondered in the meantime about mechanisms for monitoring and holding independents accountable in case they committed mistakes within the government.

It is noteworthy that Al-Mechichi will continue his consultations with political parties today, Tuesday, where he is expected to meet leaders from the Ennahda Movement, the Heart of Tunisia, the Dignity Coalition and the Democratic Bloc.