Tunisia’s next battle

Introduction

Speculations around the composition of the next Tunisian cabinet would not have waited for the final electoral results to abound. With a new president backed by no partisan structure and a fragmented parliament with no clear majority, the Tunisian political class is now faced with the difficult task to either build a solid ruling coalition or reach an all-satisfying compromise if it wants to avoid an institutional stalemate. While the elections have proved a challenging journey, the new battle for the government promises to be as complex and unpredictable as the electoral process itself.

Elected with an almost plebiscitary vote (72.7% of votes) which offers him a confortable popular basis and an undeniable legitimacy, Kais Saied will however not have a free hand to implement his projects. In a semi-presidential system where most of the executive power lies in the hands of a Prime Minister emanating from the parliamentary majority, the new President will have to cope with the fragmented parliament that came out of the ballot boxes on 6 October.

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