The government shall be composed of a Head of Government, Ministers, and secretaries of state selected by the Head of Government, and in the case of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence, in consultation with the President of the Republic.
Within one week of the declaration of the definitive election results, the President of the Republic shall charge the candidate of the party or the election coalition having won the largest number of seats in the Assembly of the Representatives of the People with forming a government, within a one month period, extendable once. If two or more parties or coalitions have the same number of seats, then the party or coalition having received the largest number of votes shall be asked to form a government.
If the specified period elapses without the formation of the government, or if the confidence of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People is not obtained, the President of the Republic shall consult with political parties, coalitions, and parliamentary groups, with the objective of charging the person judged most able to form a government within a period of not more than one month.
If in the four month period following the first designation of a person to form a government, the members of the Assembly of Representatives of the people fail to grant confidence in a government, the President of the Republic may dissolve the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and call for new legislative elections to be held within a minimum of 45 days and a maximum of 90 days.
The government shall present a summary of its programme to the Assembly of the Representatives of the People with the objective of obtaining the confidence of an absolute majority of its members. Should the government thus gain the confidence of the Assembly, the President of the Republic shall appoint the Head of Government and the members of the government.
The Head of Government and the members of the government shall swear the following oath before the President of the Republic:
“I swear by Almighty God to work loyally for the benefit of Tunisia, to respect the country’s Constitution and its legislation, to defend its interests and bear full allegiance to it”.