Ennahda supports the formation of a cabinet with less members than that of Youssef Chahed’s government, member of the party's executive council Mohammed al-Qomani, told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
The government would be tasked with carrying out certain government programs. It would consist of qualified partisan and non-partisan figures as well as new members with innovative ideas.
Talk about a smaller cabinet is the result of a series of meetings chaired by Tunisian President Kais Saied with heads of parties that will be part of the coalition government.
The objective of the meetings was to bring closer the standpoints on the government formation.
Qomani considered that the new government’s level of success depends on the figures who will join it.
He said the political figures will be chosen based on certain standards, including their names not being linked to corruption and being accepted by the people and politicians alike.
Qomani affirmed that Ennahda sticks to assigning the premiership to one of its leaders, describing this matter as “non-negotiable”.
He also criticized attempts by some parties to give priority to the “president’s government” proposed by the People's Movement at the expense of political talks.
This proposal represents a “weakness” in democratically dealing with the results of the elections given that Ennahda won the polls and is tasked with forming the government, Qomani added.
Tunisian analyst Jamel Arfaoui told Asharq Al-Awsat that any attempt to repeat the elections might cause the downfall of several political parties and reduce the number of parliamentary seats earned by Ennahda (51 seats).
