A former Tunisian interior minister has been nominated as prime minister to form the country’s new government after an agreement among political parties.

A former Tunisian interior minister has been nominated as prime minister to form the country's new government after an agreement among political parties, the parliament chief Mohammad Nacer said on Monday.

At a press conference in capital Tunis, Nidaa Tounes, the party that won most seats in parliament as well as the presidency, said it had nominated Habib Essid to form the new government in Tunisia.

"We have agreed on Essid after consultations with our partner parties," Mohamed al-Nasser, a senior party official, said at the conference.

Al-Nasser had earlier met with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi at the presidential palace in Tunis and had given him the name of Nidaa Tounes' nominee for the premiership.

The party described Essid as an "independent" and "national" figure with both an economic and a security background.

Essid was appointed interior minister in March of 2011 as part of Tunisia's provisional government. He was born in the western Tunisian city of Sousse in 1949.

Essid, a U.S.-educated agricultural economist, joins other former government officials making a comeback though the ballot box after parliamentary and presidential elections since October that were the final steps to full democracy. Critics worry their return is a setback for the 2011 revolution.

President Essebsi promises to govern for all Tunisians and says he has the technocrat background to manage security and economic challenges.