Tunisian head of government Elyes Fakhfakh, who was chosen in February to lead a coalition government, resigned Wednesday, two official sources said on condition of anonymity, after a standoff with the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party.
Ennahdha, who has five ministers in the government, had urgently reiterated his calls for a change of government this week, highlighting the suspicions of corruption hanging over the Prime Minister.
Political tensions
These dissensions are accentuated while Tunisia is largely spared by the coronavirus but is hit hard by the economic and social fallout from the closure of the borders, in particular prompting mobilizations in the south of the country.
Ennahdha, who has five ministers in the government, urgently reiterated his calls for a change of government this week, highlighting the Prime Minister's suspicions of corruption.
Indeed, Elyes Fakhfakh, leader of a small social democratic party without elected, is under the blow of a parliamentary investigation for not having ceded the management of his shares in sanitation companies which have won important contracts public in recent months.
Ennahda losing speed
But for Ennahdha, it is also a question of reconfiguring a government coalition in which this formation feels "marginalized", explains the political scientist Chokri Bahria.
Indeed, Ennahdha, who won only 54 seats out of 217 in the legislative elections in October, his lowest score since the 2011 revolution, failed this fall to rally a majority around the head of government of his choice.
This left the field open to President Kais Saied, a fierce independent, who appointed as Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh, surrounded by a coalition claiming the values of the revolution, and reluctant to partisan compromises.
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- Resignation
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