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Tunisia: Conflict at the Country’s Top Leadership Breaks Cover

Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi | Photo: EPA
Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi | Photo: EPA
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Tunisia: Conflict at the Country’s Top Leadership Breaks Cover

Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi | Photo: EPA
Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi | Photo: EPA

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.

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Lebanon's Parliament Renews Army Chief's Term in First Session after Ceasefire

Lebanese policeman stand outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 17, 2017. (Reuters)
Lebanese policeman stand outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 17, 2017. (Reuters)
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Lebanon's Parliament Renews Army Chief's Term in First Session after Ceasefire

Lebanese policeman stand outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 17, 2017. (Reuters)
Lebanese policeman stand outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 17, 2017. (Reuters)

Lebanon's parliament Thursday renewed the term of army chief Joseph Aoun, who is seen as a potential presidential candidate in next year's vote.

The parliament has seldom met since Israel’s war with Hezbollah began 14 months ago, and has not convened to try to elect a president since June 2023, leaving the country in a political gridlock.

Thursday’s session is the first since a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday which has left the Lebanese military responsible for ensuring Hezbollah fighters leave the country's south and its facilities dismantled. The army is expected to receive international aid to help deploy troops to deploy in the south to exert full state control there, The AP reported.

Gen. Joseph Aoun is seen as a likely presidential candidate due to his close relationship with the international community and his hold on an institution that is seen as a rare point of unity in the country facing political and sectarian tensions. Lebanon has been without a president since Oct. 31, 2022.

It is unclear whether the decision to renew Aoun's term will impact his chances as Lebanon's next president.

Hezbollah and some of its key allies and their legislators have been skeptical of a Aoun presidency due to his close relationship with Washington.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who spearheaded negotiations with the United States to end the war, also called for parliament to convene on Jan. 9, 2025 to elect a president, the first attempt in almost 19 months.

French special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, tasked by French President Emmanuel Macron with helping Lebanon break its political deadlock, observed the session before meeting with Berri and later caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Berri, in an address Wednesday, urged political parties to pick a president that will bring Lebanon's rival groups together, in a bid to keep the war-torn and financially battered country from further deteriorating amid fears of internal political tensions between Hezbollah and its political opponents following the war.

The militant group's opponents, who believe Hezbollah should be completely disarmed, are furious that it made the unilateral decision to go to war with Israel in solidarity with its ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip.