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Women’s groups welcome the appointment made by President Kaïs Said, who is criticized for alleged abuses of power for having removed the prime minister, having suspended Parliament and wanting to renew the Constitution. However, the new cabinet will respond to Said and not to the prime minister according to the same rules that the president changed.
Najla Bouden is the first woman to be appointed as prime minister in this North African country. Bouden, a 63-year-old geologist, was a senior official in the Ministry of Higher Education and unknown on the political scene. Her name came to light when the questioned Tunisian President Kaïs Said appointed her to the post on September 29, after removing Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi more than two months ago.
Feminist groups have praised Bouden’s nomination as a step forward for women in Tunisia, a country considered a pioneer of women’s rights in the Arab world.
Many have questioned how much power Said will have given Bouden, as the president has long opposed gender equality in inheritance laws.
The new prime minister’s cabinet is made up mostly of university professors and non-political officials. Of the 25 ministers there are 10 women. But his administration will have very limited prerogatives, as the new cabinet will answer to President Said rather than the prime minister.
Added to this, top cabinet members, including the foreign and finance ministers, were already serving Said on an interim basis. In fact, the new Interior Minister is one of his greatest allies.
The new cabinet was announced after demonstrations on Sunday in which at least 6,000 people protested in central Tunisia against President Said.
The political crisis has not yet ended in Tunisia
The president has been accused by his opponents of initiating a coup, after ordering the suspension of parliament on July 25 and granting himself judicial powers after declaring a state of emergency.
In addition, he suspended the 2014 Constitution almost in its entirety, of which he has been a staunch critic for introducing a mixed parliamentary-presidential system. He has given himself the power to appoint a committee to amend it and submit it to a popular referendum.
The Tunisian Constitution was adopted three years after the revolution that overthrew veteran dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Said also criticizes the revolution and says he doubts its democratic achievements.
Many have seen Said’s moves as a blow to the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, which has dominated Tunisian politics after the revolution.
In a speech after Najla Bouden’s inauguration ceremony, Saied reiterated that his moves were constitutional in light of the “imminent danger” facing Tunisia.
The president insisted that he had acted to “save the Tunisian state from the clutches of those who lurk at home and abroad, and from those who view his position as loot or as a means of looting public funds.”
Faced with this scenario, the new Bouden government – who has no political experience and is not known to have economic experience – will have a difficult capacity to maneuver to change economic problems.
Tunisia is facing a long-lasting economic crisis, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with debt exceeding 90% of Gross Domestic Product, galloping inflation and an unemployment rate of more than 18%.
With Reuters, AFP and EFE
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