Tunisia PM Hamadi Jebali on Wednesday announced that he was resigning “as promised”.
"Today there is a great disappointment among the people and we must regain their trust and this resignation is a first step."
After the assassination of a leftist opposition politician Chokri Belaid, Jebali had proposed dissolving the existing Cabinet and replace it with technocrats, who would have guided thye country till next elections.
But his own party Ennahda, rejected his initiative, insisting that the country still needed a government of politicians. The rejection indicated that there not only divisions among the various parties in Tunisia but also within Ennahda.
The resignation came the same day that international ratings agency Standard & Poor`s downgraded the Tunisian government`s credit rating over political instability, a blow to the North African nation`s already struggling economy.
Ennahda`s leader, Rachid Ghannouchi had put forward his own proposal Monday for a mixed government of politicians and technocrats and had said there was a consensus among political parties for Jebali to remain prime minister.
Jebali did not rule out accepting if he was charged by the president once more to form a new government, but he said that any new cabinet he would lead must be free from partisan haggling, inclusive of all political forces and charged primarily with holding new elections.
Jebali announced he`d quit after a meeting with President Moncef Marzouki, describing the move as what`s best for the country.
With Agency Inputs
