Tunisian president replaces key ministers in sweeping reshuffle

TUNIS: Tunisian President Kais Saied on Sunday replaced various ministers, including from the foreign and defence portfolios, the Tunisian presidency said in a statement posted on Facebook without explanation.

The abrupt reshuffle replaced 19 ministers and three state secretaries, just days after Saied sacked the former prime minister.

“This morning, August 25, 2024, the President of the Republic has decided to make a governmental change,” said the statement, without further detail.

The move comes as the North African country readies for presidential elections on October 6.

Saied, 66, was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021.

He is now seeking a second presidential term as part of what he has said was “a war of liberation and self-determination” aiming to “establish a new republic”.

But while he is running for office, a number of his political opponents and critics are currently in jail or being prosecuted.

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global watchdog, said Tunisian authorities “have prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned at least eight prospective candidates” for the October vote.

The North African country under Saied was “gearing up for a presidential election amid increased repression of dissent and free speech, without crucial checks and balances on President Saied´s power”, HRW added.

Earlier this month, Abir Moussi, a key opposition figure who has been in jail since October, was sentenced to two years in prison under a “false news” law, days after she reportedly submitted her presidential candidacy via her lawyers.