Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali has announced his resignation at a news conference in Tunis.
"I promised if my initiative did not succeed I would resign as head of the government and this is what I am doing following my meeting with the president," Jebali said at the presidential palace.
"Today there is a great disappointment among the people and we must regain their trust and this resignation is a first step."
An aide had hinted that Jebali might resign earlier on Tuesday, after the ruling Ennahda party rebuffed his plan to form a non-partisan cabinet to steer Tunisia through a crisis sparked by the killing of leftwing politician Shokri Belaid