A woman, Najla Bouden, was tasked with forming a new government in Tunisia, a first in the country’s history, but her prerogatives will be limited after President Kais Saied arrogates to himself full powers.
Completely unknown to the general public and a trained scientist, this academic, who is the same age – 63 – as Mr. Saied, was in charge of managing a World Bank-sponsored project to reform higher education.
The surprise appointment was announced two months after Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi was sacked on July 25 by the head of state who also froze parliament and took over the judiciary.
According to a press release from the presidency, Mr. Saied instructed Ms. Bouden to form a government “in the next few hours or days.”
But it is the head of state who will be the real holder of executive power. He will chair the Council of Ministers, under a decree containing “exceptional measures” adopted on September 22.
This is the first time in the history of Tunisia, a pioneer country in the Arab world in terms of women’s rights, that the task of running the government has been entrusted to a woman.
Since the presidency of Habib Bourguiba who had provided them with a code of personal status in 1956 prohibiting polygamy and repudiation and authorizing divorce, Tunisia has been considered as the Maghreb country at the forefront for the emancipation of women.
Doubts
The Tunisian Association of Democratic Women welcomed the choice of the president, assuring that it had requested it.
Renowned activist Bochra Bel Haj Hmida praised the symbolic significance of the gesture but recalled that Mr. Saied was “known” for negative positions on gender equality.
At the end of 2019, during the election campaign and once elected president, Mr. Saied opposed any bill that puts men and women on an equal footing.
The appointment of Ms. Bouden “is a positive thing, a recognition of the important role of women in Tunisia and their ability to succeed in all fields,” political scientist Slaheddine Jourchi told AFP.
But Ms. Bouden lacks experience, he added, questioning her ability “to deal with all the hugely complex issues” that lie ahead.
Highly indebted and dependent on international aid, Tunisia is facing a deep economic and social crisis – fall in GDP, high inflation, unemployment at nearly 18% -, aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The presidency released a video of the president receiving Ms. Bouden in his office. Mr. Saied insisted on the “historic” nature of the appointment, described as “honor for Tunisia” and “tribute to Tunisian women”.
“End the chaos”
In the streets, Tunisian women expressed their joy after the appointment of a woman prime minister.
But “that doesn’t mean we’re going to support her no matter what,” 21-year-old student Yasmine Benhassen told AFP. “We’ll be careful what she does.”
For Raoua Gorab, an unemployed woman in her thirties, what matters is “that she solve the country’s problems, that she improve the situation on the job market”, because “after the pandemic, everything has closed!”.
The main mission of the government will be “to put an end to the corruption and chaos that has pervaded many state institutions,” Saied said to Ms. Bouden, a doctor in geology.
The latter, originally from the city of Kairouan (center), has no recognized skills in economics. Prior to managing the World Bank-subsidized project, she had been Managing Director at the Ministry of Higher Education.
In recent weeks, Saied has come under heavy pressure to move forward on the establishment of a new executive. Its exceptional measures have been criticized by NGOs as “a grabbing of power”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday called a “return to parliamentary democracy” “essential” in a telephone interview with Kais.
