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Tunisia Likely to Establish National Unity Government

Tunisian parliament (File photo: AFP)
Tunisian parliament (File photo: AFP)
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Tunisia Likely to Establish National Unity Government

Tunisian parliament (File photo: AFP)
Tunisian parliament (File photo: AFP)

Tunisian President Kais Saied has held a series of consultations with parliamentary blocs to form a new government, which will most likely bring together the country’s different factions.

The national unity cabinet will include Ennahda Movement which several parties had sought to marginalize by rejecting to give their vote of confidence to a government led by its candidate for the premiership, Habib Jamali.

Jamali formed a government of independent figures with no links to the political parties that had won the parliamentary elections. But his line-up did not receive the support of a number of political parties.

Speaker Rachid Ghannouchi called on Ennahda to adopt dialogue with different factions to overcome historic differences that do not serve any political party.

Ghannouchi was speaking during the inauguration of Ennahda’s fourth youth conference.

Saied is expected to decide on the new Prime Minister-designate after meetings that included Hakim Ben Hammouda and Fadhel Abdelkef, both of whom are supported and nominated by a number of parliamentary blocs.

Observers believe the ongoing meetings indicate that the competition for the premiership has been limited to Ben Hammouda and Abdelkefi, two experts on the economy, which will be the next government’s top priority.

They assert the President may back Ben Hammouda to form the cabinet, while keeping all other options open.

Ben Hammouda revealed he presented his vision for the government program, pointing out that the main challenge in Tunisia is to rebuild the social contract.

He reviewed six major transformations through which the social contract can be reconstructed, stressing the importance of setting active policies to limit marginalization and poverty, and restore hope for Tunisians.

Abdelkefi was named by Jamali to assume the Ministry of Development, Investment and International Cooperation (MDICI) in the government that failed to win the parliamentary vote of confidence. He also assumed the same post in the government of former Prime Minister Youssef Chahed

The President also met with Elyes Fakhfakh, candidate of the Democratic Current, led by Mohamed Abbou, and Tahya Tounes, led by Chahed. 

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Syria Authorities Say Armed Groups Have Agreed to Disband

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Syria Authorities Say Armed Groups Have Agreed to Disband

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Syria's new leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country's opposition groups on their dissolution and integration under the defense ministry.  

Absent from the meeting were representatives of the US-backed, Kurdish-led forces that control swathes of Syria's northeast.  

The meeting between the opposition groups and Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa "ended in an agreement on the dissolution of all the groups and their integration under the supervision of the ministry of defense", said a statement carried by the SANA news agency and the authorities' Telegram account.

The announcement comes just over two weeks after President Bashar al-Assad fled Syria, following a lightning offensive spearheaded by Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.

On Sunday Sharaa, long known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, had said the new authorities would "absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control".  

That also applied to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), he said.  

Last week, the military chief of HTS told AFP that Kurdish-held areas would be integrated under the new leadership, and that "Syria will not be divided".  

Thirteen years of civil war in Syria has left more than half a million people dead and fragmented the country into zones of influence controlled by different armed groups backed by regional and international powers.

SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told AFP the question of his group's integration into the national armed forces "should be discussed directly".  

He did not dismiss the possibility, saying that doing so would strengthen "the whole of Syria".  

Shami added that his forces prefer "dialogue with Damascus to resolve all questions".  

- 'Economic leverage' -  

Türkiye has long held ties with HTS, and analysts say that since the opposition took over Syria, both sides have sought to profit from the relationship.  

Ankara accuses the People's Protection Units (YPG) -- the main component of the SDF -- of being affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.  

Earlier this month, a Syria specialist who advises Western diplomats in Türkiye said: "The Turks would like to push HTS into striking at the Kurds but HTS doesn't want to get involved."

Although Ankara's role in Assad's overthrow had been "overstated", Türkiye now has "real economic leverage" thanks to the 900-kilometer (560-mile) border it shares with Syria, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.  

How the situation develops will also depend on US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20 but has already proclaimed that "Türkiye is going to hold the key to Syria".  

Since late November, the SDF has been battling Türkiye-backed fighters who launched an offensive on Kurdish-held areas at the same time as HTS's anti-Assad campaign.  

On Tuesday, the SDF said in a statement its fighters were waging deadly combat to the east of the key city of Manbij, with 16 deaths in its ranks.  

Syria's Kurds, long oppressed under Assad's rule, saw an opportunity during the war to carve out a semi-autonomous territory in the northeast.  

They proved an indispensable ally to the US-led coalition battling the ISIS group.  

Since Assad's ouster on December 8, they have issued numerous statements welcoming his downfall, and also put out calls for dialogue with the new leadership in Damascus and with Türkiye.  

In Syria's northeast, both the Kurdish flag and the three-star independence-era flag used by the new authorities can be seen.