Tunisian President Kais Saied requested a copy of the report on the investigation into the suspicious face masks deal in order to review its findings.
The General Committee of Control over Public Expenses had completed the probe into the suspicious deal involving Minister of Industry Youssef ben Salah and MP Jalal al-Zayati.
Saied will discuss the report with Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh on Monday.
Reliable sources said the president has urged holding accountable any party implicated in the investigation. This would affect the prime minister who has defended ben Salah.
Observers predicted that a dispute would arise between the president and PM on this issue, in which Saied will defend the law and constitution that ban lawmakers from striking commercial deals while they are serving as members of parliament.
The PM, meanwhile, will feel obligated to defend his ministers and will consider ben Salah’s demand to the MP to manufacture 2 million face masks during a period of no more than two weeks as part of an initiative during the extraordinary situation Tunisia is experiencing amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The National Anti-Corruption Authority has revealed over 11 instances of suspected corruption and conflicts of interest related to the deal.
Ben Salah is suspected of striking a deal to manufacture the face masks at a company owned by Zayati, seen as a conflict of interest according to the constitution.
