The Tunisian president appoints his ally as a new interior minister
This position was assumed by the former governor of Tunisia, Kamal al-Fiqi, days after the outbreak of mass protests by the opposition in the country.
Tunisian President Kais Said Kamal al-Fiqi appointed the new Minister of the Interior, hours after Tawfiq Charafeddine resigned from the position amid a crackdown on prominent opposition figures.
On Friday, Saied issued two decrees, the first to dismiss Charaf El-Din and the second to appoint El-Feki, the former governor of Tunisia, at the head of the Interior Ministry, according to what the presidency said in a press statement last night.
Al-Feki, one of Saied’s staunchest supporters, refused to grant a protest permit to the opposition National Salvation Front coalition, saying its leaders were involved in plotting against state security. However, the Ministry of the Interior allowed them to do so objects.
Charafeddine, a former lawyer, was a key figure in the election campaign that propelled a previously unknown Saied to the presidency in 2019.
He was seen as one of the closest Tunisian officials to the president, but in recent months he has appeared less publicly.
In statements to reporters, Sharaf El-Din indicated, in statements reported by local media, that his wife died last year and that he needed to take care of his children.
Saied has assumed increasing control over the security forces since July 2021 when he sacked the government of the country’s former prime minister, Hisham al-Mechichi. Said shut down parliament and moved to rule by decree before writing a new constitution that he approved last year.
Sharaf El-Din also served as Minister of the Interior under Mechichi, who dismissed him in January 2021 as relations between the president and prime minister collapsed. Said reappointed him after dismissing Mechichi and seizing most of the powers.
oppression
In recent weeks, the Tunisian authorities Arrested Prominent opposition figures accuse Saeed of the coup and accuse them of plotting against state security.
Police have also cracked down on African refugees without residency permits, with rights groups accusing them of detaining hundreds and turning a blind eye. racist attacks.
Last month, Charafeddine was on Saied’s side as Tunisia faced an international outcry over a sermon from the president against illegal refugees from sub-Saharan Africa.
“There is no question that anyone in an illegal situation is allowed to stay in Tunisia,” the president said in one of his videotaped meetings with the minister.
“I will not allow the state institutions to be undermined or the demographic composition of Tunisia to change.”
