Tunisia: Kaïs Saïed carries out again a wide-ranging ministerial reshuffle

On Sunday, August 25, 2024, the President of Tunisia executed a significant reshuffle of his Government, appointing 22 new ministers and Secretaries of State, as announced on the Presidency’s official page.
President Kaïs Saïed, who has been in office since 2019, removed 19 ministers—including those responsible for Foreign Affairs and Defense—without providing any official reasons. This follows the dismissal of Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani on August 8, a position that has yet to be filled.
The reshuffle comes just over a month before the presidential election scheduled for October 6. Among the new appointees are Mohamed Ali Nafti, a former diplomat with experience in various Tunisian embassies, who will now head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Khaled Shili, also a former diplomat and ex-Foreign Ministry official, will take on the role of Minister of Defense. The three new Secretaries of State will support the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources, and Employment, respectively.
Elected democratically five years ago, Kaïs Saïed seized full control in a power grab in July 2021, when he dismissed his Prime Minister and suspended Parliament, which was later dissolved. Facing accusations of authoritarianism from the opposition and critics, Saïed is now campaigning for a second presidential term as part of his self-styled “war of liberation and self-determination” to “establish a new republic.” In the upcoming election, he is contesting with two other candidates: Zouhair Maghzaoui, a former pan-Arab left deputy, and Ayachi Zammel, a liberal industrialist in his forties.