Tunisia’s party leaders met Friday to choose a new premier to be tasked with replacing the government and steering the country out of a months-long political crisis

Tunisia's party leaders met Friday to choose a new premier to be tasked with replacing the government and steering the country out of a months-long political crisis, mediators said.
  
The birthplace of the Arab Spring was plunged into turmoil after the assassination of a prominent opposition figure in July by suspected militants, with critics accusing the ruling Ennahda party, a moderate Islamist movement, of failing to curb extremists.
  
The powerful UGTT union mediating between Ennahda and the opposition said the meeting to choose a new prime minister would also aim to take "a set of decisions to accelerate the adoption of the constitution." Under a roadmap for the negotiations that started a week ago, Ennahda and the opposition plan to announce Saturday the name of the person who will succeed Ali Larayedh as premier.
  
At the same time, the Constituent National Assembly must elect members of the future electoral commission before starting the process of adopting a constitution, which has already taken two years to draft and must be completed by the end of the month.
  
The parties and local media have said four people are vying for the post of prime minister: veteran politicians Mohamed Ennaceur and Ahmed Mestiri, and prominent economists Mustapha Kamel Nabli and Jalloul Ayed.
  
Whoever is tapped for the position will have two weeks to form a government of independents to prepare for elections.

On Wednesday a suicide bomber blew himself up at a beach in the popular tourist resort of Sousse and minutes later security forces foiled another attack in nearby Monastir.

Authorities said five members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia movement were arrested over the attacks, which have not been claimed. On Wednesday the Fitch agency downgraded by two notches Tunisia's long term debt rating from "BB+" to "BB-" over  political tensions, the delay of elections and a rise in unrest.