Tunisia's president names new prime minister

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi on Wednesday nominated Youssef Chahed (pictured left) to be the next prime minister after the previous government lost a no-confidence vote over the weekend.

Chahed, who served as local minister in outgoing Prime Minister Habib Essid's government, said the president had tasked him with forming a broad-based national unity government.

"The president has put me in charge of the national unity government. This is a message of confidence for young people also," Chahed told reporters. "In this delicate time we need a lot of audacious decisions."

Essebsi in June called for a national unity government including all parties as well as trade union and employers' confederations.

An agricultural economist by training, Chahed is a member of Essebsi's secular Nidaa Tounes party. His nomination has created some controversy because Chahed and Essebsi are distant relatives by marriage, local media reported. Chahed has denied any familial ties to the president.

Chahed is expected to face little difficulty getting the necessary votes in parliament. Nidaa Tounes and the Islamist Ennahda party, both part of the ruling coalition, hold the majority of seats.

Unlike other Arab Spring countries that descended into war or faced coups, Tunisia has turned into a relatively successful democracy, albeit one marred by political infighting.

With war and instability in neighboring Libya, where the so-called "Islamic State" has carved out territory, Tunisia also faces multiple security threats. Last year, Tunisia was hit by two terrorist attacks - one on a resort and another at the Bardo museum - that killed 60 people, mostly tourists.

Security jitters have hurt the tourism industry, which accounts for about 8 percent of gross domestic product and provides thousands of jobs.

Chahed said his first priority would be to provide security and fight terrorism, followed by fighting corruption and increasing stagnant growth to generate jobs. Youth unemployment is a major problem. He said Tunisia's youths "must not lose hope in the future."

"Today, we enter into a new stage that demands efforts and exceptional sacrifices and boldness to find out-of-the-box solution to the nation's problems," Chahed told reporters. "We will speak frankly to the people about the reality of the country's financial and economic situation."

cw/kms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)