Youssef Chahed announced before lawmakers on Monday a battery of ambitious reforms.

:: Tunisia’s prime minister has called on citizens to “join hands” to defeat both terrorism and the economic obstacles threatening the North African country’s budding democracy.

Youssef Chahed announced before lawmakers on Monday a battery of ambitious reforms aimed at pulling Tunisia out of its economic crisis by 2020.

Chahed says until then he will lead “a government of war against terrorism and corruption, a government that works for development and fights unemployment” and helps to erase disparities between the capital and the country’s impoverished inland regions.

To do so, he told Tunisians that they must “join hands” and make “shared sacrifices.”

The prime minister says he wants to raise the retirement age and increase the social charges Tunisians contribute to their benefits.

Economic indicators all flash red for Tunisia.