TUNIS: Tunisia’s party leaders met Friday to choose a new premier to be tasked with replacing the present 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 rebels, with critics accusing the ruling Ennahda party, a moderate 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.