The Tunisian president on Monday issued presidential orders to dismiss and replace two more ministers, a week after the government was fired.
According to a presidential statement, Ali al-Kaali, Minister of Economy, Finance and Investment Support, dismissed the order, appointing Siham al-Boughdiri as his successor.
Mohamed el-Fadil Karim, Minister of Communications and also Acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, was also relieved of his duties and replaced by Nizar Bennaji.
Last week, President Kais Saied fired Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi’s government, froze parliament and took over the executive branch with the help of a new prime minister.
Since July 25, Saied has fired a number of top officials, including Defense Minister Ibrahim al-Bartajy and Deputy Justice Minister Hasnaa bin Suleiman.
Saied insists that his extraordinary actions are intended to “save” the country, while his critics accuse him of staging a coup.
Tunisia has been seen as the only country that managed to carry out a democratic transition between a group of Arab countries that witnessed popular revolutions in the early 2010s that overthrew their ruling regimes, including Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his Tunisian counterpart Saied in a telephone conversation on Monday that the continuation of the Tunisian parliament’s work was important for the region, his office said after Saied froze parliament and fired his prime minister.
In a statement, the Turkish Presidency said that Erdoğan “emphasized that the Tunisian Parliament … maintaining its operations despite all difficulties was important for the democracy of Tunisia and the region”, adding that the work of the Parliament was “vital”.
“Erdoğan stated that it was very valuable for Tunisia’s democracy to be protected, its freedoms guaranteed and the rule of law upheld,” it said.
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