The Tunisian premiership expressed on Friday its dismay with the presidency’s release of a video of talks held between the prime minister and president over appointments that included members of the former regime.
The issue had caused widespread debate in the country.
The premiership informed the presidency that it condemns the release of the video, saying that Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi’s replies to President Kais Saied were edited out.
Such a video has harmed the image of the Tunisian state and institutions, it said, calling on the presidency to avoid repeating such a move.
In the six-minute video, Saied was seen rebuking Mechichi over recent appointments he was seeking to approve. The PM was aiming to appoint aides that included figures from the regime of late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Mechichi’s aide Slim Tissaoui denied the existence of a dispute between the president and premier over the appointments.
In an attempt to ease the premier’s embarrassment, he said that what the Tunisians witnessed was simply “Saied’s way of speaking.”
Political analyst Zied Krichen described as “very dangerous” the dispute between the president and premier.
The “marginalization” of the constitutional authority does not help anyone, he remarked. “In very few minutes, the president undermined and dismissed the dignity of the prime minister and he appointed himself as judge instead of the judiciary. This will have an impact on the future of relations” between the president and PM.