Tunisia’s Twin Crises Will Take More Than a Cabinet Reshuffle to Resolve

Tunisia’s Twin Crises Will Take More Than a Cabinet Reshuffle to Resolve
New Tunisian tourism minister Rene Trabelsi, right, and Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi in Tunis, Nov. 14, 2018 (AP photo by Hassene Dridi).

Tunisia’s prime minister, Youssef Chahed, announced several changes to his Cabinet last week in a bid to shore up support for his government amid a parallel political and economic crisis. The changes were approved in a parliamentary vote that the ruling Nidaa Tounes party boycotted, laying bare the deepening divisions within the Tunisian government. In an email interview with WPR, Sharan Grewal, a post-doctoral research fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy, discusses the latest developments in Tunis and what to expect from the newly approved Cabinet.

World Politics Review: What prompted Prime Minister Chahed to reshuffle his Cabinet last week?

Sharan Grewal: The Cabinet reshuffle was the latest installment in a long-running and largely self-inflicted political crisis. President Beji Caid Essebsi’s son, Hafedh, has been jockeying for control of Nidaa Tounes ever since his father was elected president in 2014. The rise of Hafedh, who has served as Nidaa Tounes’ executive director since the beginning of 2016, has paralyzed and fragmented the party. Many lawmakers opposed to him have left Nidaa Tounes, costing it its plurality of seats in parliament.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to WPR’s fully searchable library of 16,000+ articles
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
  • Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
  • Daily links to must-read news and analysis from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
  • The Weekly Wrap-Up email, with highlights of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review