Tunisia picks Jomaa as next PM

Representatives of nine Tunisian parties have voted Saturday evening to select outgoing minister of industry Mahdi Jomaa as head of a planned technocrat government. The voting which took place at the end of the plenary session of the National Dialogue in the northern city of Bardo, put an end to the lingering political standoff in the country. Jomaa won nine votes against two votes for Jallol Ayad, state news agency (TAP) quoted leader in the Democratic Alliance Mahmoud Baroudi as saying. Eleven parties have reportedly taken part in the voting while ten other participants in the National Dialogue boycotted the voting.