Tunisia's President Kais Saied issued a decree appointing a new government on Monday, 11 weeks after he fired the last one. State television broadcast a swearing-in ceremony of the cabinet headed by Najla Bouden, the North African country's first ever female prime minister. In her first public speech since her nomination, Bouden said Monday that "the fight against corruption will be the most important aim" of the new government. She also vowed to "raise living standards" of Tunisians and "restore their faith in the state". The president on July 25 sacked the previous prime minister and suspended parliament. The president named Bouden, a geologist, as premier on September 29, more than two months after sacking the administration of Hichem Mechichi and removing lawmakers' immunity. Bouden kept the interim finance and foreign ministers Saied had already installed, while naming Taoufik Charfeddine as interior minister. In a speech following Monday's ceremony, Saied reiterated that his moves were constitutional in light of "imminent peril" facing Tunisia. He said he had acted to "save the Tunisian state from the clutches of those who lurk at home and abroad, and from those who see their office as booty or as a means to loot public funds". He also vowed to "cleanse the judiciary". Saied July measures enjoyed significant support from a public tired of political parties seen as self-serving and incompetent. Tunisia is facing a long-running economic crisis, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with debt running at over 90 percent of Gross Domestic Product, runaway inflation and an unemployment rate of over 18 percent. — Agencies
