TUNIS: Tunisia’s ruling coalition and the opposition met Saturday to discuss a new constitution on the second day of hard-won negotiations to resolve a months-old political crisis.

The murder in July of an opposition leader, Mohammed Brahmi, by suspected jihadists triggered growing calls for the resignation of the government led by the moderate Ennahda party.

On Friday, Prime Minister Ali Larayedh made a written pledge to resign and pave the way for a cabinet of independents headed by a new premier who is to be named within a week.

A first meeting of the much-delayed national dialogue opened on Friday afternoon and the divided factions met behind closed doors into the early hours of Saturday.

The UGTT trade union mediating the negotiations said the talks focused on appointing a committee that will be tasked with forming the new cabinet.

Saturday’s session was to focus on forming a commission of experts to finalize a proposed constitution, a task which has dragged on for two years and that now must be completed within a month.

Meanwhile, the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) was also scheduled to convene after 60 opposition lawmakers ended a boycott of the body they started after Brahmi’s assassination.

The roadmap to end the political crisis, brokered by the UGTT, set a deadline of one week for the formation of the body that will organize elections.

But despite the beginning of talks on Friday after three months of stalemate, many were still wary of Ennahda’s intentions.

Opposition MP Selma Mabrouk wrote on Facebook: “Vigilance will be the rule for all those who want this process to succeed, because we are clearly not safe from Ennahda’s usual attempts to barter.”