Tunisia PM sacks culture minister for not following Covid rules

Tunisian Prime Minister, Hichem Mechichi, announced the dismissal of Culture Minister, Walid Al-Zaidi, due to his refusal to implement the instructions for measures to confront coronavirus.

Hours before his dismissal, Al-Zaidi delivered a speech during a protest organised by artists in the City of Culture, in the capital Tunis, and expressed his rejection of the prime minister’s instructions to suspend cultural activities, among other decisions announced earlier by Mechichi to prevent public gatherings for two weeks in an attempt to contain the spread of the pandemic.

Al-Zaidi said: “The ministry will abide by the government’s decisions, only after meeting with the health committee, and coordinating with sector representatives. Otherwise, we are not here to implement the prime minister’s directives.”

The government issued a statement that included the dismissal decision, and the appointment of Minister of Tourism, Habib Ammar, to fill the vacancy.

Al-Zaidi is the first minister who leaves Mechichi’s technocratic government, which was formed in September following the resignation of Ilyes Fakhfakh’s government.

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This is the second time Mechichi decides to dismiss Al-Zaidi. Thus, the first time was when the minister expressed his unwillingness to accept the post offered to him last August; however, he explained later that he was not intending to resign.

Al-Zaidi, Tunisia’s first blind culture minister, received Kais Saied’s support, which prompted Mechichi to backtrack on the dismissal decision.