Tunisia's Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali on Thursday announced his new cabinet lineup, with key ministerial posts allotted to his dominant Islamist Ennahda party. The list of 41 cabinet members was drawn up two months after Tunisia's first free elections on October 23, which chose an assembly tasked with writing a new constitution following the ousting of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January.
The constituent assembly is to meet Friday to approve the premier's list of appointees, the subject of weeks of negotiations between the moderate Islamist Ennahda and its two left-leaning allies. The selection of a new government is a major milestone in Tunisia, following the country's protests against Ben Ali that began in December 2010. The demonstrations triggered what would become the Arab Spring - a series of uprisings across the Arab world that led to the overthrow of several veteran dictators. Moncef Marzouki of the Congress for the Republic (CPR) became state president and the Ettakatol party's Mustapha Ben Jaafar was chosen as speaker of the assembly.