Tunisia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs has sacked an imam at Sidi Abdelkader Mosque in the area of Manzil Bu Zalafah, Nabeul Governorate, for inciting against the country’s politicians.
Early 2019, it also dismissed three imams for the same reason, in an endeavor to distance mosques from the campaigns launched by candidates in the presidential and parliamentary elections set to be held by the end of the year.
The ministry clarified that it seeks to face all attempts to violate the 13-clause pact made by imams.
Minister of Religious Affairs Ahmed Adhoum stated earlier that all mosques in Tunisia fall under the authority of the ministry except for some "unlicensed mosques."
Adhoum stressed that the ministry promotes moderation and rejects extremism.
Days before the municipal elections in May 2018, the ministry sacked 15 imams and banned them temporarily from delivering Friday sermons until after the polls in an attempt to stop them from influencing voters.
Further, Hizb ut-Tahrir in Tunisia criticized the visit of US Ambassador to Tunis Donald Armin Blome, to Kebili and Tozeur (in the south), and his participation in presenting grants for handicrafts within a cultural exchange program funded by the Department of State.
The US ambassador is touring Tunisia although he was in charge of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem when he was a general consul between 2015 and 2018, the party said in a statement on Friday.
In another context, Speaker of the Parliament Mohammed al-Nasser announced limiting grants to 58 MPs on the backdrop of their continuous failure to attend parliamentary sessions and legislative committee meetings.
Nasser said that the cuts targeted lawmakers who had not attended more than six consecutive committee meetings and three consecutive parliamentary sessions to vote on draft-laws.
The estimated deducted funds amount to TND95,000 (USD23,000) covering the period from July to February. Nasser noted that each MP has the right to object the decision within a week from the initial list’s publishing.
The continued absence of parliament members from the legislature has been criticized by a number of Tunisian human rights organizations because it has paralyzed the parliament for several months and adjourned sessions dedicated to voting on important draft-laws.
