Tunisian President May Resign

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki may step down due to changes in the country’s cabinet, his chief of staff Emad al-Dayemi announced on Tuesday.

“Marzouki will leave his post if he feels that his presence is not at the service of his country,” al-Dayemi said, adding the president’s decision came in reaction to the remarks made by Ennahda Movement officials that reforms in the Tunisian cabinet may include a resignation of the president.

Marzouki took office only to serve his country and not to secure the interests of any given party, al-Jazeera quoted him as saying.

Marzuki will not be forced to step down and he will resign on his own will, the Tunisian official added.

Al-Dayemi’s remarks came after some officials in the ruling Ennahda Party spoke of Marzouki’s resignation for reshuffling the cabinet.

On Saturday, Moncef Marzouki asked the nation’s Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali to appoint a new cabinet as protests over economic hardship continue to sweep the streets of the North African state.

In a televised national address on Friday, President Moncef Marzouki said that the country’s coalition government had not “met the expectations of the people” and asked that a new one, smaller and specialised to deal with the unrest, be formed.