Cabinet Essid

Parts of the Essid cabinet on the government bench of the People's Representative Assembly in January 2016

Prime Minister Habib Essid

The Essid cabinet was the Tunisian government formed after the 2014 parliamentary and presidential elections . It was led by the independent Prime Minister Habib Essid , who had been entrusted with the formation of a government by the newly elected President Beji Caid Essebsi on January 6, 2015 and who was elected to his office on February 5 by 166 of the 217 members of the People's Representative Assembly. The 27 ministers and 14 state secretaries began their work on February 6, 2015 and were supported in parliament by broad support from both the two large political rallying movements, the secular Nidaa Tounes and the moderate Islamist Ennahda , as well as two secular small parties ( UPL , Afek Tounes ). The Essid cabinet is the first government to be elected in the wake of the revolution in Tunisia in 2010/2011 according to the democratic guidelines of the constitution of the Republic of Tunisia , which was adopted at the beginning of 2014 , and it replaced Mehdi Joma's transitional cabinet . The difficult security and economic situation were the focal points of the work. On August 27, 2016, the cabinet was replaced by the Chahed cabinet after it had lost the vote of confidence in parliament on August 3, 2016.

Emergence

See also : "Formation of a government" in the article Parliamentary elections in Tunisia 2014

The secular gathering movement Nidaa Tounes won the first election for the People's Representative Assembly, the unicameral parliament of Tunisia set up by the new constitution, in October 2014. She negotiated with various parties to form a government. In addition to a grand coalition with the second-placed Ennahda, a coalition with smaller parties that are ideologically closer to the secular party came into consideration. The negotiations continued until after Nidaa Tounes chairman Essebsi won the presidential election on December 21. On January 5, the leadership of the Nidaa Tounes party announced that former Tunisian interior minister Habib Essid would form the next government, which Ennahda agreed to do. After receiving a delegation from Ennahda on January 7th, it announced on January 11th that it wanted to participate in his government.

The members of a first cabinet proposal were presented on January 23, 2015, surprisingly not a politician Ennahda, but only from Nidaa Tounes and the third force in parliament, the secular UPL , who together with 102 seats did not have a majority in parliament. Ennahda announced that he did not want to support the government because there was no clear goal and no effort to achieve national unity. Since Nidaa Tounes also criticized Essid's cabinet proposal, the vote of confidence in parliament, scheduled for January 27, was postponed. In the days that followed, Essid succeeded in persuading Ennahda and Afek Tounes to participate in the government. With a new cabinet proposal on February 2, including members of all parties involved, Essid won the vote of confidence in parliament on February 5, 2015 with 166 out of 217 votes. His cabinet started work on February 6, 2015. The difficult formation of a government satisfied few of the parties involved.

Focus

The first few months of the government were dominated by security issues, especially as the situation in neighboring Algeria and Libya remained tense. In particular, after the Islamist attack on the Bardo National Museum in Tunis in March 2015 , in which a number of tourists were injured, security measures were tightened. The domestic political stability, which was painstakingly restored after several fatal attacks on politicians in 2013, and Tunisia's currently recovering economic lifeline, tourism, were in serious danger.

In May 2015, Essid announced that it would henceforth primarily devote itself to stimulating the economy and combating unemployment and to launch corresponding programs, especially in the digital area, in which Tunisia should become a pioneer. After the first hundred days in office, Essid asked in late May 2015 that the government be given a year to evaluate its performance.

The following months were marked by a series of other terrorist attacks, including the attack in Port El-Kantaoui in June 2015 and the attack on a bus carrying the President's bodyguards in November 2015 . A counterterrorism law was passed in July, restricting civil rights and freedom of the press, and causing human rights organizations to fear a return of the police state. In the tense situation marked by the declaration of a state of emergency, President Essebsi was accused of seeking the establishment of an authoritarian presidential regime, possibly with the formation of a family dynasty by passing on the office to his son Hafedh. This criticism gathered around the previous general secretary of the largest ruling party, Nidaa Tounes, Mohzen Marzouk , and in November 2015 31 of the party's 86 MPs in parliament announced that they would withdraw from the parliamentary group and thus withdraw support from the Essid government. Because of the large parliamentary majority, the functioning of the government was not endangered, even if the internal balance of power shifted, as the members of the Islamist party Ennahda became the strongest faction in parliament.

composition

The cabinet members were predominantly politically independent, which emphasized the character of a technocratic cabinet of experts and corresponded to the traditional political culture of Tunisia, after which confrontation is avoided and consensus is sought. Some belonged to the secular Nidaa Tounes and their small, also secular allies from the UPL and Afek Tounes ; a minister was provided by the moderate Islamist Ennahda. The unequal representation - the second largest party, Ennahda, provided only one minister - caused displeasure at the beginning.

In the second half of 2015, three cabinet members left the government. The Minister for Relations with the People's Assembly of Representatives , Lazhar Akremi , announced his retirement from the cabinet on October 5, which Essid accepted the following day. Akremi gave the reason that he had lost the fight against ubiquitous corruption because of the party quarrel; the development towards a presidential system is reaching its limits. On October 20, 2015 Essid dismissed the previous Justice Minister Mohamed Salah Ben Aïssa and replaced him on an interim basis with Defense Minister Farhat Horchani . Ben Aïssa then gave the reason that his bill for a reform of the judiciary, which was supposed to strengthen its independence, had been replaced in parliament by a completely different, in his opinion unconstitutional, bill and that he had received no support from the President. He also campaigned in vain to decriminalize homosexuality . After the attack on a bus of the President's bodyguard in November 2015 , which killed 12 people and injured 16, the Secretary of State for Security Affairs at the Minister of the Interior, Rafik Chelli , was sacked on December 1, 2015.

At the beginning of December 2015, Essid announced a major reshuffle of the cabinet for the time after the 2016 budget was approved by the People's Representatives' Assembly. He made this public on January 6, 2016 with eight new ministers and the abolition of all state secretaries. After their confirmation by the People's Representatives' Assembly on January 11, the new ministers began their work on January 12, 2016. Two new ministries for public service, government and the fight against corruption as well as for rural areas were created and the ministry for industry, energy and mining was split in two. Mahmoud Ben Romdhane, who moved from the Ministry of Transport to the Ministry of Social Affairs with the reshuffle of the cabinet, resigned from Nidaa Tounes one day later and announced his withdrawal from the cabinet, which Prime Minister Essid rejected on January 14, 2016. Ben Romdhane remained in office until the end of the cabinet on August 27.

Detachment

After Essid and his cabinet lost the vote of confidence in the Tunisian parliament on August 3, 2016, Beji Caid Essebsi hired the 41-year-old agricultural economist Youssef Chahed to form a government. Chahed and his cabinet were given a vote of confidence by the Assembly of Representatives on August 26, 2016; they replaced the Essid cabinet on August 27th.

minister

image	Department		Surname	Political party
	Prime Minister		Habib Essid	independent
	Minister of Justice		Mohamed Salah Ben Aïssa (until October 20, 2015), Interim Minister Farhat Horchani (until January 11, 2016) Amor Mansour (from January 12, 2016)	independent
	Defense Minister		Farhat Horchani	independent
	Interior minister		Mohamed Najem Gharsalli (until January 11, 2016, independent) Hédi Majdoub	independent
	Foreign minister		Taieb Baccouche (until January 11, 2016, Nidaa Tounes ) Khemaies Jhinaoui	independent
	Minister for Religious Affairs		Othman Battikh (until January 11, 2016) Mohamed Khalil (from January 12, 2016)	independent
	Finance minister		Slim chaker	Nidaa Tounes
	Minister for Development, Investment and International Cooperation		Yassine Brahim	Afek Tounes
	Minister for Public Service, Government and Fight Against Corruption (newly created)		Kamel Ayadi (from January 12, 2016)	independent
	Minister of State Property and Land		Hatem El Euchi	Union patriotique libre
	Minister of Education		Néji Jalloul	Nidaa Tounes
	Minister for Higher Education and Research		Chiheb Bouden	independent
	Minister for Education and Labor		Zied Ladhari	Ennahdha
	Minister of Social Affairs		Ahmed Ammar Younbaii (until January 11, 2016, independent) Mahmoud Ben Romdhane (from January 12, 2016)	independent
	Minister of Health		Saïd Aïdi	Nidaa Tounes
	Minister of Culture		Latifa Lakhdar (until January 11, 2016) Sonia M'Barek (from January 12, 2016)	independent
	Minister for Women, Family and Children		Samira Merai	Afek Tounes
	Minister for Youth and Sport		Maher Ben Dhia	Union patriotique libre
	Minister for Agriculture, Irrigation and Fisheries		Saâd Seddik	independent
	Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development		Nejib Derouiche	Union patriotique libre
	Industry Minister (from 12 January 2016, until then Minister for Industry, Energy and Mining)		Zakaria Hamad	independent
	Minister of Commerce		Ridha Lahouel (until January 11, 2016, independent) Mohsen Hassan (from January 12, 2016)	Union patriotique libre
	Minister for Energy and Mining (from January 12, 2016, outsourced)		Mongi Marzouk (from January 12, 2016)	independent
	Minister for Procurement, Construction and Regional Planning		Mohamed Salah Arfaoui	independent
	Minister of transport		Mahmoud Ben Romdhane (until January 11, 2016) Anis Ghedira (from January 12, 2016)	Nidaa Tounes
	Minister for Tourism and Handicrafts		Selma Elloumi Rekik	Nidaa Tounes
	Minister for Information Technology, Communication and Digital Economy		Noomane Fehri	Afek Tounes
	Minister for Local Affairs (newly created)		Youssef Chahed (from January 12, 2016)	Nidaa Tounes

Minister to the Head of Government

image	Department		Surname	Political party
	Minister at the Prime Minister's Office for Relations with the Assembly of the People's Representatives (since January 12, 2016 also spokesman for the government)		Lazhar Akremi (resigned October 5, 2015) Khaled Chouket (since January 12, 2016)	Nidaa Tounes
	Minister to the Prime Minister for Relations with the Constitutional Institutions and Civil Society		Camel jendoubi	independent
	Minister at the Prime Minister for the General Secretariat of the Government (until January 11, 2016 also spokesman for the government)		Ahmed Zarrouk	Nidaa Tounes

State Secretaries (until January 11, 2016)

image	Department		Surname	Political party
	State Secretary to the Interior Minister for Security Issues		Rafik Chelli (released December 1, 2015)	independent
	State Secretary to the Interior Minister for Local Affairs		Hédi Majdoub	independent
	State Secretary to the Foreign Minister		M'hamed Ezzine Chelaifa	independent
	State Secretary to the Foreign Minister for Arab and African Relations		Touhami Abdouli	formerly Ettakatol , non-party
	State Secretary to the Finance Minister		Boutheina Ben Yaghlane	Ennahdha
	State Secretary at the Development Minister for Investment and International Cooperation		Lamia Zeribi	independent
	State Secretary for International Cooperation		Amel Azzouz	Ennahdha
	State Secretary at the Minister of Social Affairs for Emigration and Integration		Belgacem Sabri	independent
	Secretary of State for the Affairs of the Wounded and Fallen of the Revolution		Majdouline Cherni	independent
	State Secretary to the Minister of Health for the Improvement of Hospitals		Nejmeddine Hamrouni	Ennahdha
	State Secretary to the Minister for Youth and Sport for Youth Affairs		Chokri Terzi	independent
	State Secretary at the Agriculture Minister for Agriculture		Amel Nafti	independent
	State Secretary at the Agriculture Minister for Fisheries		Youssef Chahed	Nidaa Tounes
	State Secretary to the Minister for Procurement, Building and Regional Planning for Building		Anise Ghedira	Nidaa Tounes

Web links

• Portail de la présidence du government. In: PM.gov.tn (French, official government website ).
• Habib Essid annonce la composition du gouvernement (list complète). In: Directinfo , February 3, 2015 (with links to the biographies of the individual cabinet members).
• Lilia Labidi: Forming the New Tunisian Government: “Relative Majority” and the Reality Principle (= Viewpoints. No. 71). Wilson Center , Middle East Program, February 2015 (PDF) .

Remarks

1. ^ Charlotte Bozonnet: En Tunisie, le parti Nidaa Tounès en quête d'alliés. In: Le Monde , October 29, 2014 (French).
2. ^ Safa Ben Said: Habib Essid Nominated Tunisia New Prime Minister. ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Tunisia-Live.net , January 5, 2015 (English). 
3. ^ Tunisia: Habib Essid Receives Ennahdha Movement Delegation Led By Ghannouchi. In: AllAfrica.com , January 7, 2015 (English); Tunisia's Ennahda Says to Participate in Essid Govt. In: Middle East Monitor , January 11, 2015 (English).
4. ^ Tunisia Premier-Designate Forms New Government Without Islamists. In: Reuters .com , January 23, 2015 (English).
5. ^ Tunisie: Les islamistes d'Ennahda refusent le gouvernement de Habib Essid. In: MaliActu.net , January 25, 2015 (French); Tunisie: Ennahda rejette le gouvernement d'Habib Essid. In: RFI .fr , January 26, 2015 (French).
6. ^ Kotti appelle Habib Essid à revoir la composition de son gouvernement. In: Businessnews.com.tn , January 25, 2015 (French).
7. ↑ Imen Blioua: Political Parties React to Habib Essid Government. ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Tunisia-Live.com , January 26, 2015 (English). 
8. ^ Sarah Mersch: Unstable majority for Tunisia's new government. In: Deutsche Welle , February 5, 2015.
9. ^ Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid promises growth and reforms. ( Memento of the original from February 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Times of Oman , February 6, 2015 ( AFP report, English).  
10. ↑ ^{a b} Khansa Ben Tarjem: Un nouveau gouvernement tunisien, sans enthousiasme. In: Le Monde , February 6, 2015 (French).
11. ^ Christoph Ehrhardt: Tunisia after the attack. Longing for the strong man. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 25, 2015. For the background Maha Yahya: The Dark Side of Tunisia's Success Story. In: Real Clear Politics , June 11, 2015.
12. ^ Habib Essid announcement un taux de chômage de 15%. In: BusinessNews.com.tn , May 19, 2015 (French). Background Emna Guizani: Experts: Tunisia is Facing Economic Crisis. ( Memento of the original from May 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Tunisia-Live.net , May 22, 2015 (English). 
13. ↑ Adoption of the plan stratégique du projet “Tunisie numérique 2018”. ( Memento of May 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse , May 22, 2015 (French).
14. ↑ Habib Essid demande un délai d'un an pour être sur son jugé reported. In: AfricanManager.com , May 21, 2015 (French).
15. ↑ Daniel Spound: Does Tunisia nursing care about human rights? ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Tunisia-Live.net , July 6, 2015 (English); Connor Shields: Rights groups: Anti terrorism law endangers everyone in Tunisia. ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Tunisia-Live.net , July 31, 2015 (English); Zeineb Marzouk: Is the Tunisian government about to crackdown on civil society? ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Tunisia-Live.net , August 5, 2015 (English); Simon Speakman Cordall, “A slap in the face for human rights”: Amnesty International slam government crackdown. ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Tunisia-Live.net , December 2, 2015 (English).    
16. ↑ Yasmine Ryan: Tunisia's ruling party implodes as President Beji Caid Essebsi stands accused of trying to build a dynasty. In: The Independent , November 2, 2015 (English); Zeineb Marzouk: Thirty-one deputies resign as Nidaa Tounes loses majority. ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Tunisia-Live.net , November 9, 2015 (English). 
17. ^ Habib Essid annonce la composition du gouvernement (list complète). In: Directinfo , February 3, 2015 (with links to the biographies of the individual cabinet members).
18. ↑ ^{a b} Lazhar Akremi quitte le gouvernement. In: Businessnews.com.tn , October 5, 2015 (French); Tunisie: Habib Essid accepte la démission de Lazhar Akremi. In: Gnet.tn , October 6, 2015 (French); Habib Essid: Décret gouvernemental n ° 2015-1429 du 19 octobre 2015, portant acceptation de la démission du ministre auprès du chef du gouvernement chargé des relations avec l'assemblée des représentants du peuple. In: Legislation.tn , October 19, 2015 (French).
19. ↑ ^{a b} Habib Essid limoge Mohamed Salah Ben Aïssa. In: Businessnews.com.tn , October 20, 2015 (French); Habib Essid: Décret gouvernemental n ° 2015-1444 du 22 octobre 2015, portant cessation de fonctions du ministre de la justice. In: Legislation.tn , October 22, 2015 (French).
20. ^ Frida Dahmani: Tunisie - Mohamed Salah Ben Aïssa: "Pourquoi j'ai été limogé". In: Jeune Afrique , November 17, 2015 (French).
21. ↑ Terror in Tunisia: At least twelve dead in attack in Tunis. In: n-tv.de , November 24, 2015.
22. ↑ ^{a b c} Ministère de l'Intérieur: Rafik Chelli démis de ses fonctions. In: Kapitalis.com , December 1, 2015 (French).
23. ^ Tunisie: List complète des ministres du nouveau gouvernement Essid. In: Directinfo , January 6, 2016 (French).
24. ^ YN: Les nouveaux membres du gouvernement prêtent serment. In: Kapitalis.com , January 12, 2016 (French).
25. ↑ ^{a b} Sarra Hlaoui: Mahmoud Ben Romdhane démissionne de Nidaa Tounes. In: BusinessNews.tn , January 13, 2016 (French); this: Essid refuse la démission de Mahmoud Ben Romdhane. In: BusinessNews.tn , January 14, 2016 (French).
26. ↑ Battikh replaced Laroussi Mizouri , proposed by Essid on January 26, 2015.
27. ↑ Chaker replaces Lassaad Zarrouk, suggested by Essid on January 26, 2015.
28. ↑ Brahim replaces Nejib Derouiche, whom Essid had designated for this post on January 26, 2015; Derouiche became Minister of the Environment.
29. ↑ Jalloul replaces Mohamed Abdelmanef Abdrabba, whom Essid had proposed on January 26, 2015.
30. ↑ Ladhari replaces Selma Elloumi Rekik, proposed by Essid on January 26, 2015.
31. ↑ Merai replaces Khadija Chérif, who Essid proposed on January 26, 2015.
32. ↑ Lahouel replaces Slim Chaker, whom Essid had planned for the post on January 26, 2015 and who became Minister of Economics and Finance.
33. ↑ It replaces Mohsen Hassan, whom Essid had proposed on January 26, 2015 and who rejected it on January 30: Mohsen Hassan renonce au portefeuille du Tourisme. In: Business News , January 30, 2015.
34. ↑ Fehri replaces Karim Skik, whom Essid had proposed on January 26, 2015 and who rejected the same day: Karim Skik refuse, officiellement, le poste de ministre des Télécommunications et de l'Économie. In: Business News , January 26, 2015.
35. ↑ Chelli replaced Saad Derbez, whom Essid had proposed on January 26, 2015.
36. ↑ Majdoub replaces Ali Trabelsi, whom Essid proposed on January 26, 2015.
37. ↑ Hamrouni replaces Hanen Arfa, proposed by Essid on January 26, 2015.
38. ↑ Terzi replaces Mohamed Jouili, whom Essid proposed on January 26, 2015.