Tunisia: Ennahda may have won over 40% and wants party secretary-general as PM

 Tunisia's Ennahdha has said it will nominate the party's secretary-general Hamadi Jbeli as its candidate for the post of prime minister, now that the moderate islamist party is on course to be the dominant force in the country's constituent assembly. Al Jazeera reports..

Hamadi Jbeli

Said Firjani, a member of the party's communications office, confirmed the choice to Al Jazeera, but said the final decision rested with the constituent assembly. He also confirmed Ennahdha would not be seeking the post of president, possibly paving the way for Beji Caid Sebsi, the interim prime minister, to stand for the post.

With 87 seats of the 217-seat constituent assembly announced on Tuesday, Ennahdha had won 37 seats. The Congress Party for the Republic (CPR) had 14, Aridha Chaabia 11, Ettakatol 10 and the Progressive Democratic Party five seats.
In a statement, Ennahdha claimed that it won 'over 40 per cent' of seats. It also repeated what it said earlier, that it wishes  to co-operate with all parties without any exclusion. 'We are open to all political parties inside the assembly and outside it, as well as civil society bodies such as the great Tunisian trade union and other unions,' the statement said. 'We are in talks in order to form alliances based on a shared economic, social and political programme.'
The party's leader and founding member, Rachid Ghannouchi made a brief appearance on Tuesday night.but he did not speak to the crowd, telling Al Jazeera that he would not give a victory speech until the electoral commission had announced the full results.