Deposed Tunisian despot Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's last foreign minister, Kamel Morjane, said Saturday he will stand in the November presidential election, the first since the 2011 revolution.
"The party's national council met yesterday (Friday) and, after examining the situation in the country, insisted that I stand in the election. I accepted," Morjane, who heads al-Moubadara (the Initiative) party, told Jawhara FM radio station.
"I consider doing so to be a national responsibility," he added.
An al-Moubadara statement said the decision had been taken because of its leader's "experience" and "patriotism," as well as his "capacity to bring Tunisians together."
Morjane, 66, was the last foreign minister in the regime of Ben Ali, who was chased from power by a popular uprising on January 14, 2011.
He first joined the government in 2005 as defense minister and also served in Ben Ali's now defunct Rally for Constitutional Democracy (RCD) party.
In the aftermath of the uprising that sparked the Arab Spring, Morjane was a member of the transitional government before pressure from the street forced him and other ministers to step aside.
He had previously made a career at the United Nations and was number two at the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"The party's national council met yesterday (Friday) and, after examining the situation in the country, insisted that I stand in the election. I accepted," Morjane, who heads al-Moubadara (the Initiative) party, told Jawhara FM radio station.
"I consider doing so to be a national responsibility," he added.
An al-Moubadara statement said the decision had been taken because of its leader's "experience" and "patriotism," as well as his "capacity to bring Tunisians together."
Morjane, 66, was the last foreign minister in the regime of Ben Ali, who was chased from power by a popular uprising on January 14, 2011.
He first joined the government in 2005 as defense minister and also served in Ben Ali's now defunct Rally for Constitutional Democracy (RCD) party.
In the aftermath of the uprising that sparked the Arab Spring, Morjane was a member of the transitional government before pressure from the street forced him and other ministers to step aside.
He had previously made a career at the United Nations and was number two at the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).