Chahed: The New Government will be at war with terrorism and corruption

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said, Monday, that his new cabinet will be a “war government that will fight terrorism and corruption.”

“We need to expand the circle of political consensus and national unity and this is the basis for our choices in the recent reform,” Chahed added in a speech to the Tunisian parliament.

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Chahed also said during the meeting attended by 150 out of the 217 deputies of the parliament:

The amendment comes about a year after we obtained the confidence of the parliament, based on an objective assessment of the members of the government, and the progress of the Carthage Agreement, which stems from the initiative of the president of the country, Beji Caid Essebsi.

We have maintained the spirit of national unity in the reform, bearing in mind that the coming period requires the unity of all national forces

The ministerial reshuffle included the interior and defence ministries, which is expected to strengthen our country’s counter-terrorism efforts. Combating corruption will also be the priority of the new ministers

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The parliament’s session for today was opened by a statement that Chahed delivered, and then the floor was given to parliamentary blocs and independent MPs to start the public debate and express their opinion regarding the new government formation. Finally, granting or not granting confidence to the new government will be subject to vote after the Prime Minister answers the questions that deputies will put forward.

The session is expected to continue until late in the evening.