Tunisia: the president opposes the entry into office of the new ministers

---

On January 16, Mr. Mechichi carried out a reshuffle affecting 11 ministries including those of the Interior, Justice and Health. After a vote of confidence on January 27 in their favor, the new ministers were to be sworn in at the presidential palace before taking office. But the ceremony has still not taken place.

Saied had criticized the reshuffle, regretting not having been consulted and accusing some ministers of being suspected of corruption. He also lambasted the procedure used, not constitutional according to him.

Nothing in the texts obliges the government to obtain the approval of the Parliament for a reshuffle. On the other hand, the reshuffle must be accompanied by a deliberation by the Council of Ministers, as stipulated in the Constitution, a procedure which was not respected according to Saied.

I will not shrink from my principles. I swore before God by putting my hand on the Koran to respect the Constitution, he declared Wednesday in front of Noureddine Taboubi, general secretary of the powerful union UGTT.

I will never be (in the service of editor's note) anyone who seeks to overthrow the state, continued this specialist in constitutional law.

This standoff between the president, an independent, and the main parties in Parliament the Islamist-inspired movement Ennahdha and the liberals of Qalb Tounès, favorable to the new government comes as the country is hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and its social fallout.

The UGTT warned against the exacerbation of the political crisis to a point which threatens the entity of the state. This crisis undermines Tunisia's credibility abroad and risks aggravating social difficulties, the union warned in a statement.

Tunisia, which depends on donors, has not yet finalized its 2021 budget, and could face a further historic decline in GDP in 2021, with -9% expected according to the World Bank.