PROFILE - Elias Fakhakh, Tunisia's new premier

By Adel Thabeti

TUNIS, Tunisia (AA) - Over the past decade, Elias Fakhfakh was not far from the public scene in Tunisia, where he served first as tourism and then finance minister after the 2011 Jasmine Revolution uprising that deposed long-ruling President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Born in commercial hub town of Sfax, Fakhfakh, 48, was announced on Monday as the country's new premier after President Qais Saeed gave him a mandate to form the government.

He appeared satisfied last Saturday during his meeting with Saeed at Carthage Palace, amid ongoing consultations to choose the next prime minister.

Fakhfakh belongs to the Democratic Current Party, which has 22 lawmakers in the 217-seat Tunisian parliament. He got the support of both his own bloc and the Long Live Tunisia Party for the premier position.

Following parliamentary elections last October, Fakhfakh will be the second prime minister appointed in three months after the failure of his predecessor Habib Jemli to gain the parliament's confidence earlier this month, despite support from the largest bloc, the Ennahda Movement.

Fakhfakh is a Mechanical Engineer by trade, receiving his master's degree in the field from the Insa School in Lyon, France, and another master's degree in Business Administration from the French University of Essonne.

In 2006, he returned to Tunisia and worked in the business sector, becoming involved in politics after the uprising in 2011.

During his presidential campaign, he advocated for coexistence of different Tunisian political groups, as well as social justice, also calling for improving the country's education system and health services.

Fakhfakh enjoys good relations with most of the country's different political movements, be they religious, seculars or leftists.

Unlike his party, observers expect he will gain the confidence of two large parliamentary blocs, the Ennahda and Long Live Tunisia.

Later on Monday, the Tunisian presidency said Fakhfakh would be "assigned to form the government within a period of one month."

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara