Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi on Tuesday sacked Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine, who is reputed to be close to President Kais Saied, a move underscoring tensions at the top of the country’s executive leadership.
Although it is Mechichi’s constitutional right as prime minister to appoint and dismiss all cabinet members except for foreign and defense ministers, who need to be assigned after holding consultations with the president, many said that Charfeddine’s firing was political and had nothing to do with performance.
Last September, President Saied attempted overthrowing Mechichi’s government, but the Islamist Ennahda movement, the Heart of Tunisia party, and Coalition de la Dignité party stepped in alongside some independent lawmakers to prevent that from happening.
Reacting to the president’s move, Mechichi is believed to be pursuing the removal of seven ministers who are close to Saied.
Charfeddine’s attempts to replace many high-ranking security officials, including police and intelligence district and department heads as well as senior National Guard figures are among the undeclared reasons behind his sacking.
On New Year’s Eve, Charfeddine met with Saied to discuss the replacements without the presence of Mechichi, who was visiting France at the time. Speculators say that the meeting was a deciding factor in Charfeddine’s dismissal.
A cabinet statement said Mechichi would supervise the interior ministry on an interim basis pending the appointment of Charfeddine’s successor.
Another theory attributes the new tensions to statements made by Saied during a visit to the interior ministry on New Year’s Eve. The president claimed full control of the internal security forces, which he considers to be part of the armed forces he is the supreme leader of, as per the constitution.
Mechichi apparently interpreted the president’s statements as yet another attempt to grab more power and encroach on his prerogatives, considering that his interior minister was no longer reliable, having aligned himself with the president.
