Tunisia: Al-Nahda Agrees to Non-Party Control of Security Ministries

Tunisia's Al-Nahda Party has agreed to the appointment of independents without party affiliation to the critical Interior, Foreign, Justice and Defense Ministries. This will could help defuse the political crisis created by the resignation of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali; he had wanted a technocratic Cabinet, but the main demand of the opposition was to remove partisan figures from key internal security post such as Interior and Justice.

The new Cabinet will also expand the coalition from three parties to five. If implemented, the move could relax deepening tensions in the country.