The Tunisian parliament held a questioning session for six ministers of the government of Hichem Mechichi, during which the current cabinet was heavily criticized.
Most of the ministers remain in their positions without a clear constitutional basis, after President Kais Saeid refused to receive 11 ministers for constitutional oath following the ministerial reshuffle.
The session included the Foreign Minister, the Acting Minister of Local Affairs and the Environment, the Minister of Tourism, the Acting Minister of Cultural Affairs, the Minister of Religious Affairs, the Acting Minister of State Property and Real Estate Affairs, and the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure.
During the session, some parties in the ruling coalition and opposition parties asked Mechichi to visit the parliament and address citizens about the reality of the situation in the country.
Head of the Tahya Tounes bloc, Mustapha Ben Ahmed, said that the plenary sessions with the ministers are frequent and ceremonial, especially in the absence of the prime minister and his failure to address parliamentarians directly. He indicated that Mechichi only listens to some ministers every now and then.
He warned that the situation in Tunisia is very dangerous, coupled with an unprecedented economic and social crisis.
“All political and social parties must assume their responsibility" to get the country out of this dark tunnel, according to Ben Ahmed.
Observers believe that the parliament’s recent sessions are directed in particular at the president after he rejected the ministerial reshuffle.
