A woman, Najla Bouden, was tasked Wednesday with forming a new government in Tunisia, a first in the country’s history. But its prerogatives will be limited, President Kais Saied having assumed full powers.
Completely unknown to the general public, this 63-year-old scientist was responsible for managing a higher education reform project subsidized by the World Bank.
The surprise appointment was announced two months after the sacking, on July 25, of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi by the head of state, who also froze Parliament and took over the judiciary. According to a presidential statement, Mr. Saied instructed Mr.me 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, by virtue of a decree containing “exceptional measures” adopted on 22 September.
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 leading the government has been entrusted to a woman.
Since the presidency of Habib Bourguiba, who in 1956 had endowed the female population with a code of personal status prohibiting polygamy and repudiation and authorizing divorce, Tunisia has been considered as the Maghreb country at the forefront in this regard. which concerns the emancipation of women.
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 electoral campaign and once elected president, Mr. Saied opposed any bill making men and women equal in inheritance.
Doubts
The appointment of Mme Bouden “is a positive thing, a recognition of the importance of the role of women in Tunisia and of their ability to succeed in all fields,” political scientist Slaheddine Jourchi told AFP. Butme Bouden lacks experience, he added, expressing doubts about his ability “to deal with all the huge and complex cases” that await him.
Highly indebted and dependent on international aid, Tunisia is facing a deep economic and social crisis – drop in GDP, high inflation, unemployment at nearly 18% – made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The presidency released a video of the president receiving Mr.me Bouden in his office. Mr. Saied insists on the “historic” nature of the appointment, described as “honor for Tunisia” and “tribute to Tunisian women”.
“End the chaos”
In the street, Tunisian women expressed their joy after the appointment of a prime minister. But “that does not mean that we will support her no matter what,” one of them, Yasmine Benhassen, a 21-year-old student, told AFP. “We’ll be careful what she’s going to do. “
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 closed! “.
The main mission of the government will be “to put an end to the corruption and chaos which has pervaded many state institutions,” Saied told Mr.me Bouders, doctors and geology.
She, originally from the city of Kairouan, has no recognized skills in economics. Prior to managing the World Bank-subsidized project, she was Director General at the Ministry of Higher Education.
In recent weeks, Saied has come under heavy pressure to move forward with the establishment of a new executive. Its exceptional measures have been criticized by NGOs as “a grabbing of power”.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel deemed “essential” a “return to parliamentary democracy” during a telephone interview with Mr. Saied.
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