Tunisian President Kais Saied has commissioned a woman, Najla Bouden, for the first time to form a government in Tunisia, two months after the dismissal of the previous cabinet, the presidency announced on Wednesday.
Najla Bouden was “charged with forming a government as soon as possible,” the presidency said in a statement. After months of political blockage, Kais Saied had on July 25 sacked the Prime Minister, froze parliament and also granted himself judicial power.
A “historic” appointment
Born in 1958 and a scientist by training, Najla Bouden, who is practically the same age as President Kais Saied and hails from the city of Kairouan, is unknown to the general public. It is the first time that a woman takes the head of the government in Tunisia, even if the powers granted to this role have been considerably diminished by the “exceptional measures” adopted by Kais Saied on September 22, which suspend the application of key chapters of the Constitution.
The presidency released a video of Kais Saied receiving Najla Bouden in his office and instructing her to form a new government to present it to him “in the next few hours or days.” Kais Saied has repeatedly insisted on the “historic” nature of the appointment of a woman for the first time to lead the government in Tunisia. “It is an honor for Tunisia and a tribute to Tunisian women. The main mission of the future government will be “to put an end to the corruption and chaos which has spread to many state institutions”.
Surprise nomination
The presidential decree of September 22 formalized the coup de force of July 25 by President Kais Saied by which he assumed full powers, after having dismissed the Prime Minister, frozen the parliament and having also taken over the judicial power. . Henceforth, on the basis of the “exceptional measures” taken in time to carry out a series of “political reforms”, the Head of State, holder of executive power, himself chairs the Council of Ministers.
The measures of September 22 also provide for the continuation of the freezing of Parliament and for the President to legislate by decree. Before her surprise appointment, Najla Bouden was managing director of a higher education reform project. Previously, this doctor in geology had been in charge of mission, then director general at the Ministry of Higher Education.