Tunisia: a new government with a technocratic profile

Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi (left) presents his government's list to President Kaïs Saïd. August 24, 2020 Tunisian Presidency / AFP

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The Tunisian Prime Minister designate, Hichem Mechichi, announced Monday August 24 the composition of a government of “technocrats” without political labels which will be subjected to the approval of the Parliament.

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Prime Minister-designate Hichem Mechichi presented his future government late Monday, the second in six months in Tunisia, made up mostly of technocrats, and which has yet to obtain parliamentary approval.

Many parliamentary parties have said they are unhappy at having been removed from the cabinet, while evoking the need to vote confidence in this government to avoid dragging the country, already struggling economically, towards early legislative elections.

Eight women

The future cabinet has eight women out of 28 ministers and state secretaries, many of whom are little known to the general public. Among them, senior officials, academics or private sector executives. A bank boss, Ali Kooli, takes the head of a ministry centralizing Economy, Finance and Investment. Foreign Affairs has been entrusted to Othman Jarandi, a career diplomat who previously held this post in 2013. Defense Minister Ibrahim Bartagi is an academic, according to several media.

Mr. Mechichi, a 46-year-old Enarque, thus ignores the calls of the Islamist-inspired party Ennahdha and its liberal ally Qalb Tounes, to form a political team comprising members of the various parties. Hichem Mechichi is the third head of government appointed since the legislative elections of October 2019, which had given birth to a Parliament split into a multitude of antagonistic formations . The main party, Ennahdha, has only a quarter of the seats, and is struggling to form a coalition.

See also : Tunisia facing the challenge of forming a government without a parliamentary majority

A prime minister chosen by Ennahdha had failed in January to convince a majority of deputies. The current head of government, Elyes Fahfakh, appointed by President Kais Said , was forced to resign in July by Ennahdha, amid suspicion of a conflict of interest.

Mr. Mechichi, current Minister of the Interior, was also chosen by Mr. Saïd, but his cabinet only includes a few outgoing ministers.

Priority to social issues

The fate of the government must be decided during an exceptional session of Parliament within the next ten days.

The government will then have to obtain the support of at least 109 deputies out of 217. Failing that, President Saïd, very critical of the partisan parliamentary system, could dissolve the Assembly and call early elections for early 2021.

President Saïd, an inexperienced scholar widely elected in October 2019 against a backdrop of mistrust of the political class in business since the 2011 revolution, has made social issues his priority.

In addition to managing the Covid-19 rebound , the government will have to resume discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose four-year program expired in the spring, tackle unemployment now reaching 18%, and attempt to reform the large public sector, largely in deficit.

(with agencies)

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  • Tunisia
  • Kaïs Saïed
  • Social issues