Editor TLN
March 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Tunisian President Kais Saied appointed a new Interior Minister at the last minute on Friday shortly after the resignation of Taoufik Charfeddine as head of the portfolio, who had resigned for “personal reasons.”
Saied has announced that Kamal al Faqi will take over the Ministry of the Interior after naming him on Friday night, a few hours after accepting the resignation of Taoufik Charfeddine, as reported in a statement posted on the Facebook social network.
“The sense of responsibility led me to the Ministry of the Interior (…) and the duty of a father (to be with his son, who has lost his mother) today calls me to a new mission”, Charfeddine indicated shortly before , thanking Saied for his “trust”, “understanding” and “consideration”.
Charfeddine also held the same position under the mandate of former Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, who was dismissed by Saied in July 2021 after assuming the powers of Parliament in March and assuming the head of Government on a “provisional” basis.
Charfeddine’s resignation coincides with a wave of arrests against more than a dozen opponents, activists and journalists critical of President Saied, denounced by the leader of the National Salvation Front, Ahmed Neyib Chebi.
Among those detained in recent weeks are senior officials from the Islamist Ennahda party and Yauar ben Mbarek, leader of the Citizens against the Coup movement and a senior member of the National Salvation Front. The arrest campaign has been criticized by the international community and the opposition, which speaks of Saied’s authoritarian drift.
Saied has promoted a series of measures to reform the political system of Tunisia, including a constitutional referendum, approved in the midst of the opposition boycott, which reinforces the powers of the Presidency. The opposition has denounced the authoritarian drift of the president and has demanded his resignation, especially after the very low turnout in the December and January legislatures.
