Tunisia gets its first woman prime minister, ending months of political limbo

Tunisia named Raoudha Boudent Ramadhane as its first woman prime minister after President Kais Saied froze the parliament and sacked her predecessor in July this year.

Tunisia's president on Wednesday named the country's first female prime minister, appointing her to lead a transitional government after her predecessor was sacked and parliament suspended.

Tunisia's newly  named Prime Minister Raoudha Boudent Ramadhanen, in a photo provided by the Tunisian presidency on Wednesday, Sept 29, 2021. (Slim Abid/ Tunisian Presidency via AP)(AP)

President Kais Saied named Raoudha Boudent Ramadhane, a 63-year-old professor at a prestigious engineering school, to the prime minister's post in a surprise decision.

The president's office said in a statement that Saied instructed the new prime minister to name a new Cabinet as soon as possible.

Tunisia has had no prime minister and has been in limbo since Saied froze the parliament and seized executive powers on July 25.

The move notably sidelined the Islamist party that dominated parliament, and critics denounced it as a coup that threatens Tunisia's young democracy. Saied said it was necessary to save the country from economic and social crisis.