Tunisia names first woman prime minister amid political turmoil

Amid political turmoil in Tunisia, President Kais Saied named Raoudha Boudent Ramadhane as the country's first female prime minister. Ramadhane will lead a transitional government after her predecessor was sacked and parliament suspended.

A 63-year-old professor at a prestigious engineering school, Ramadhane is the Arab world's first female head of government.

The president's office said in a statement that Saied instructed the new prime minister to name a new Cabinet as soon as possible.

Romdhane is set to inherit a political and economic crisis that has gripped the North African country during the past few years and which has worsened since Saied’s “exceptional measures.”

Tunisia has had no prime minister and has been in limbo since Saied froze the parliament and seized executive powers on July 25.

The move notably sidelined the Islamist party that dominated parliament, and critics denounced it as a coup that threatens Tunisia's young democracy.