[2] Before the first session of the NCA, the Ennahda, Congress for the Republic (CPR) and Ettakatol agreed to share the three highest posts in state.

[6] On 10 December 2011, the assembly adopted a provisional constitution[7] (Law on the provisional organisation of public powers)[8] According to articles VIII and IX of the document, the requirements for the eligibility as president are exclusive Tunisian nationality (excluding citizens with dual nationality), having Tunisian parentage, religious affiliation to Islam, and an age of 35 years or more.

[7] On 12 December 2011, the NCA elected the human rights activist and CPR leader Moncef Marzouki as the interim President of the Tunisian Republic.

On 14 December, one day after his accession to office, Marzouki appointed Hamadi Jebali, the secretary-general of the Ennahda Movement as Prime Minister.

While the Islamist Ennahda movement favoured a parliamentary system, its secular coalition partners CPR and Ettakatol, as well as most of the minor opposition parties preferred a semi-presidential republic.