The presidency has announced that Tunisian President Kais Saied has fired the country’s Foreign Minister, Othman Jerandi.
In place of Mr. Jerandi, the president named Nabil Ammar as Tunisia’s ambassador to the European Union.
He didn’t provide a justification for firing Mr. Jerandi.
With the replacement of the ministers of trade, agriculture, and education, Mr. Jerandi is the fourth minister to lose his job this year.
President Saied implemented a number of measures in order to increase the presidency’s power at the expense of the legislative and judicial branches in 2021.
Opposition parties boycotted the 2022 parliamentary elections, accusing the president of staging a coup after shutting down parliament in 2021 and giving himself almost unlimited executive powers.
Just about 11% of Tunisians turned out for a second round of parliamentary voting last month.
There has been a deepening political and economic crisis, amid protests by Tunisians increasingly frustrated with the state of the economy and against Mr. Saied’s seizure of near total power.
رئيس الجمهورية #قيس_سعيّد يقرّر إنهاء مهام السيد عثمان الجرندي، وزير الشؤون الخارجية والهجرة والتونسيين بالخارج، وتعيين السيد نبيل عمّار، وزيرا للشؤون الخارجية والهجرة والتونسيين بالخارج. #TnPR pic.twitter.com/l3ASMie2vh
— Tunisian Presidency – الرئاسة التونسية (@TnPresidency) February 7, 2023