TUNIS: Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed named 10 new ministers on Monday in a cabinet reshuffle he hopes will inject fresh blood into his government which has been widely criticised for failing to fix an economic crisis.
Key portfolios such as finance, foreign and the interior ministries were kept unchanged.
Since the toppling of autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia’s economy has been in crisis and nine cabinets have failed to resolve economic problems, including high inflation and unemployment.
Chahed named businessman Jewish Rene Trabelsi as minister of tourism, only the third member of the small minority of 2,000 Jews to enter a cabinet since Tunisia's independence in 1956.
A former foreign minister under Ben Ali, Kamel Morjan, became minister in charge of the public service, the country's main employer.
"This reshuffle is to make the work of government more effective and to put an end to the political and economic crisis," Chahed said in a statement.
Impatience has been rising among lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which have kept the country afloat with billions of dollars in loans.
The reshuffle came amid a political crisis as the president's son, Hafedh Caid Essebsi, who is leader of the ruling party Nidaa Tounes, called for the dismissal of Chahed because of his government’s failure to revive the economy.
In a sign of the distrust inside the ruling party, President Beji Caid Essebsi rejected the resuffle as he had been informed too late about it without prior consultation, his spokeswoman Saida Garrach said.
Essebsi cannot stop the reshuffle. It needs to be approved by parliament where Chahed has assembled a majority of lawmakers backing him.
Nidaa Tounes rules with moderates who have backed Chahed.
Its demand has been supported by the powerful UGTT union which has also opposed Chahed's plans to overhaul loss-making public companies.
Tunisia has been hailed for its democratic transition since 2011 but the North African country has been hit by economic crisis and militant attacks since then.
Tunisia’s PM reshuffles cabinet to tackle economic crisis
Tunisia’s PM reshuffles cabinet to tackle economic crisis
- Chahed will make changes to at least six portfolios, including Tourism, Energy, Health and Transport, one of the sources said
Israel military says Iran fires new wave of missiles at country
- Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Wednesday that it detected missiles heading toward the country from Iran and had activated air defenses, as it pressed a “wave” of strikes against Iran and Lebanon.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said on its official Telegram account.
AFP journalists heard air raid sirens sounding in Jerusalem and the sound of explosions in the distance.
A short time later, Israel’s military said it was permitted to leave shelters.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services reported no immediate injuries following the missile fire, but said its teams were treating “a small number of people who were injured on their way to protected areas.”
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a satellite communications center in Haifa, along with military bases in Israel, and US targets elsewhere in the Middle East including Iraqi Kurdistan and the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain.
“We will continue our sustained attacks with purpose and power, and in this war, we contemplate nothing but the enemy’s complete surrender,” the Guards said on their website Sepah News.
