Tunisian lawmakers hold no-confidence vote, PM under threat

Tunisia’s parliament is holding a no-confidence vote that is expected to decide the fate of technocratic Prime Minister Habib Essid, a US-trained agricultural economist whose authority has suffered amid the country’s economic and social turmoil.

The odds are stacked against Essid, who has been criticized by both the four-party ruling coalition and Tunisia’s opposition. Essid himself appears resigned to a negative outcome; while defending his record, Essid told lawmakers yesterday that he was “not attached to this job”.

Nevertheless, he said, “I wanted, in accordance with the Constitution, to address Parliament, which gave me its confidence and which has the power to withdraw it.”

Tunisia is the only country to successfully transition to a parliamentary democracy following the uprisings that rocked the Arab world in 2011. Still, it has struggled to respond to jihadi attacks that have damaged its crucial tourism industry and faces high inflation, high unemployment and persistent strikes.

Essid’s position has been undermined by political manoeuvring within Tunisia’s secular Nida Tounis party and pressure from the country’s president, Beji Caid Essebsi, who critics say is trying to raise the political profile of his son, Hafedh Caid Essebsi, by removing Essid from power.

It’s Essebsi who first proposed a “national unity government” last month to pull Tunisia of what he described as a catastrophic socio-economic situation – a move that Essid said had caught him by surprise. The debate over Essid’s position appeared set to drag into late evening yesterday.