With the Tunisian Prime Minister Hicham El-Mechichi announcing an expanded ministerial reshuffle that included sovereign ministries such as justice and the interior, official reactions and positions began to crystallize for the parties between supporters, opponents and conservatives.

Al-Mashishi revealed yesterday evening, Saturday, a government amendment that included 11 ministries, including health and industry, explaining that the step comes after a comprehensive evaluation process, with the aim of raising the level of efficiency, and further tightening the application of government policy and implementation of its plans.

đź”´ The Prime Minister announces a cabinet reshuffle Prime Minister Hisham Mechichi announced this evening, Saturday, January 16, 2021, at the Government Palace in the Kasbah ...

Posted by Présidence du Gouvernement Tunisien - Presidency of the Government of Tunisia on Saturday, January 16, 2021

Al-Mashishi renewed his keenness to maintain an independent government free of any partisan soul, in continuation of the approach he undertook during the formation of his government, which Parliament granted confidence in last September.

This amendment comes in light of night protests and acts of sabotage described as "contrived", which have expanded in more than one Tunisian governorate, despite the authorities imposing a night curfew and a comprehensive closure to limit the spread of the Corona virus.

President with "full powers"

Political leaders affiliated with the parliamentary coalition in support of Mechichi were quick to bless this amendment. The head of the "Heart of Tunisia" bloc, Osama al-Khulaifi, expressed, in a blog post, his bloc’s satisfaction with the amendment’s content, and renewed confidence in the prime minister.

Al-Khulaifi indicated that, after this amendment, Al-Mashishi will become "the de facto leader of his team and his government with all the powers that the constitution guarantees him without any dispute," in an implicit reference to the removal of what is described as the ministers of the President of the Republic who were previously proposed by the palace.

A change that we wanted to be in depth, and after a serious evaluation, the prime minister will become the actual head of his team and his government with full powers that ...

Posted by Oussama Khlifi on Saturday, January 16, 2021

And the Prime Minister had previously dismissed both the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Interior, who, according to observers, are affiliated with President Qais Saeed, to complete with this amendment the removal of other ministers, including justice, equipment, health and agriculture.

Renaissance is relaxed

For his part, the leader of the Ennahda Movement, Sami Al-Tariki, described the ministerial reshuffle as an urgent need that the movement had previously called for on more than one occasion, in order to ensure the stability of governments, according to him.

"We are satisfied with this modification, and we will proceed within the movement after consultations to give confidence to the new ministers," he told Al-Jazeera Net.

He pointed out that Ennahda's stance on the performance of some ministers in the current government is consistent with the position of the prime minister, which necessitated making the amendment after a comprehensive evaluation process.

It seems that the first beneficiary of the ministerial modification is the heart of Tunisia (3 ministers) and then the union (a sovereign ministry at least), why, how, and who is behind it? Where are the independence, integrity and merit?

Posted by Ridha Kazdaghli on Saturday, January 16, 2021

Al-Tariki stressed that this amendment effectively ended the controversy over some ministers who are not affiliated with the prime minister, and criticized his powers, to ensure a measure of harmony and stability in government work, according to him.

The Democratic Bloc opposes

For his part, the representative of the Democratic Bloc that includes both the People's Movement and the Democratic Current, Abdul Razzaq Awaidat, affirmed that they will not vote on the ministerial reshuffle, indicating in his speech - to Al Jazeera Net - that there is no clear criterion on which the Meshchite relied on the evaluation process of ministers.

The leader of the People's Movement believed that the new government structure, contrary to what its president said, as it is a government of independent competencies, bears partisan and political imprints of ministers affiliated with the Ennahda movement and the heart of Tunisia.

Oweidat said that the ministerial reshuffle came at a later time, and confiscated the outcomes of the national dialogue that everyone awaits to resolve the crisis, in its political aspects related to the nature and composition of the government.

Untimely modulation

For his part, the head of the "Long Live Tunisia" bloc in parliament, Mustafa bin Ahmed, said that the prime minister did not consult the leaders of his party in the amendment process, pointing out that the circumstances in which the country is living is not suitable for such an amendment and with this number of bags.

The prime minister chose to undertake a profound change in his government that included twelve ministries and state offices, and definitively excluded all the affiliated ministers ...

Posted by Bechir Nefzi on Sunday, January 17, 2021

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Bin Ahmed stressed that the party's official position will crystallize in the coming hours or days, indicating that there is some controversy and confusion about some of the proposed ministerial names, criticizing the absence of women in the government.

It is likely that the vote on the ministerial reshuffle will take place individually on each minister and not on the government as a whole, similar to what happened previously with the government of Youssef Chahed.

The constitution does not provide for the ministerial amendment to be submitted to the House of Representatives to obtain confidence.

Posted by Amin Mahfoudh on Saturday, January 16, 2021

It is noteworthy that the Tunisian constitution does not explicitly stipulate that the prime minister must present the ministerial amendment to Parliament, but Article 144 of its bylaws stipulates that this is necessary, and to obtain confidence the approval of the absolute majority of representatives is required.

In this chapter, it was stated that, "If it is decided to introduce a modification to the government that gained the confidence of the Council, either by joining one or more new members, or by assigning a member other than the task for which he was trusted, then this requires submitting the issue to the council to request confidence."