Tunisia ruling coalition agrees to hold elections next June

Tunisia's ruling coalition, led by the Islamic Ennahda Movement, said early on Sunday it had agreed to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on June 23 with the president being chosen directly by voters.    

The coalition's agreement on a date for elections and the establishment of an amended parliamentary system come after widespread criticism from the opposition that Ennahda wants to control the government and avoid elections.    

The ruling coalition said in a statement sent to Reuters that an agreement had been reached setting "June 23, 2013, as the date for legislative and presidential elections," with a presidential runoff scheduled for July 7.    

The agreement must be approved by the Constituent Assembly, where the ruling coalition has a majority of the 217 seats.    

The agreement will help speed the drafting of a constitution. The form of political system was a big contrast between Ennahda, which called for the parliamentary system, and the rest of the parties, which called for a dual political system.    

The amended parliamentary system will have powers balanced by between the parliament and the president.     


REUTERS