Tunisia Live (Tunis)
Charles Baeder
12 December 2011
On December 12th, in a vote of 153 for, 3 against and 44 abstaining, Moncef Marzouki, from the secular center-left Congress for the Republic (CPR) party, was elected to the position of President of the Republic of Tunisia.
His appointment follows a week of animated debate within the Constituent Assembly focused on the formation of Tunisia’s provisional constitution.
The adopted constitution, containing 26 articles, is being called the “mini-constitution,” and it delineates the roles and entitlements of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the interim government. The document will expire following the administration of general elections, potentially within the year.
In 2001 Marzouki founded the Congress for the Republic Party (CPR). Following the October 23rd elections his party arrived in 2nd place, collecting 29 out of 217 seats at the Constituent Assembly.
Marzouki will be officially sworn into office during an inaugural ceremony held later today. Foued Mebazaa, the current interim president, will be charged with the responsibility of transferring power to the president elect and resigning from the post of presidency.
Marzouki will then travel to the presidential palace, located in Carthage, to officially appoint his new prime minister, presumed to be Hamadi Jebali of the Islamist party Ennahda. Marzouki will then invite the newly appointed prime minister to announce the composition of his cabinet.
Accordingly, a ceremony will be held at the office of the prime minister in Kasbah, Tunis, to officially celebrate the transfer of power to the prime minister.
Marzouki was running for the position unopposed, as the 9 other candidates for president did not gather the required 15 signatures from Constituent Assembly members.
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