Tunisia’s new technocratic government headed by Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa
By Racha Haffar
TUNIS, Tunisia – Hours before the country adopted its new constitution on January 26 , Tunisia formed a new government with Mehdi Jomaa as the new Prime Minister after being selected by political and civil society leaders.
This government emerged from a national dialogue and enjoys consensus support from almost all parties in Tunisia.
Jomaa replaced Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh of the Islamist Ennahdha party, which held office since October 2011.
Laarayedh had been in office since March 2013.
Reactions varied among supporters and opponents to the new formation. The cabinet has been criticized for its controversial choice in continuing with Lotfi Ben Jeddou as Minister of Interior. Ben Jeddou has served in the position since cabinets were reshuffled shortly after the assassination of Chokri Belaid in February 2013. He was criticized for what some see as an ineffective investigation into the opposition’s leader assassination, as well as for his handling of the assassination of opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi last July.
Another criticism is linked to the number of women in the cabinet – three out of 28 members. After all the efforts calling for gender equality in political representation in the constitution, Jomaa’s government includes only two female ministers and one secretary of state.
Some criticism targeted the minister of tourism for traveling to Israel, a trip Jomaa defended. Also, the minister of justice was targeted for allegedly having worked with deposed president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
The opposition leftist Popular Front Coalition made it clear that it has certain reservations concerning this government although it came as a result of the national dialogue.
Hamma Hammami, a leader in the Popular Front Coalition, told The Atlantic Post in an interview that the Front is skeptical about this new government.
Hammami noted that the new government should have removed some ministers such as the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Justice, “who served during the times of the previous dictatorial regime and was known for his injustices and oppression of rights. So, how could he save liberties today?”
“The Minister of Religious Affairs is close to the Ennahdha party and he is an extremist,” Hammami said. “He is against certain chapters in the code of personal status and the constitution. How could Tunisians relax in this situation?”
“We have reservations as we want this government to succeed and to do its best so that Tunisia would reach the best situation and break through this crisis, not to stray away from the roadmap,” Hammami concluded.
Aymen Saleh, a young Tunisian student, said he finds this government to be a combination of the previous Constitutional Democratic Rally party of the old regime, and Ennahdha.” This government does not represent me, as the power is split between the old regime and the Islamists. However, all I can say is that I hope they prepare for better elections.”
On the other hand, supporters of Jomaa’s cabinet emphasize its temporary nature. The key task of this government is to keep the country safe and move toward elections, which some officials have said could happen in October.
This government will be tasked with overseeing the country’s affairs as it prepares for new elections expected by the end of this year.
When addressing the National Constituent Assembly on January 29, Mehdi Jomaa said that his government is “temporary” and must finish its work by the end of this year. Jomaa asserted the importance of addressing economic and security problems. “Hopefully this government will get the approval of the Tunisians, the same way it got the approval of the deputies of the National Constituent Assembly.”
“This government is ready and aware of the challenges facing it; however, with the support of the Tunisian people, hopefully we can pass these challenges,” Jomaa added.
“This is a country of a revolution and at the same time a country of dialogue. Its most important legitimacy is the consensual dialogue that all people were involved in to solve our problems. I am sure we can reach the elections in due time and pass the challenges. Now we should work on bringing back the respect to the country and its laws and institutions. We can make Tunisia become like Singapore and any other country we all dream about having.” Jomaa said.
Jomaa called on government and the private sector to work together to create jobs, as unemployment is a big burden for Tunisians.
Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Ennahdha, emphasized the importance of peaceful rotation of the power. He said that this is an important step during this period.
“This is a nice scene – we were used to seeing death or capture of the old president for the new one to get into power, but now we see three prime ministers next to each other showing that Tunisia has entered the right path to democracy and towards being progressive,” Ghannouchi said.
Mohammed Ali, a banker, told The Atlantic Post that he sees a positive change happening in the country. “As a Tunisian citizen, and like all Tunisians, I expect the best from this government, and we hope some new changes and improvements will take place soon.”
In addition, in his speech, President Moncef Marzouki addressed Jomaa’s government and said, “You are the third government; you are going to face a lot of problems. The previous governments have already added some bricks to this country. You are also going to add some more…We all know how hard it is to maintain security, improve development and take the country through this transition; however, today Tunisia has better anticipations, better spirit full of hope and trust, and today you represent this trust. I believe that you are able to manage this responsibility effectively and lead us towards successful elections.”
In addition to these expectations and criticism, a Tunisian anti-corruption watchdog group Iwatch has launched the ‘Jomaa Meter‘, an initiative aimed at tracking the performance of the newly appointed government of Mehdi Jomaa and to track whether the country’s interim prime minister is keeping his promises or not.
This online accountability meter lists the 29 promises made by Jomaa, including organizing free and fair elections and job creation.
The meter classifies these pledges into three categories: “achieved”, “in progress,” and “not achieved.”
This project is modeled on Egypt’s Morsi Meter, which was launched to track President Mohammed Morsi’s achievements after he took office in 2012.
Mouheb Garoui, president of Iwatch, told The Atlantic Post that he has high expectations of this government. He said that optimism is apparent when you talk to people and even in the media, because this government was chosen by consensus, was designed according to the road map and along with the new constitution.
“Tunisians seem to have more trust in this new government. The arrests of terrorists that happened right after this government took power is seen as a first concrete step towards the new promises made by Jomaa, as he promised to give concrete evidence in relation to the assassinations of both opposition leaders last year.”
“This meter is to assess the public perception towards the whole concept; we got some positive reactions so far. In fact, we want to create a new mindset of accountability towards those who give promises without being held accountable.”
Garoui pointed at the fact that during the previous elections there were many promises without accountability. There were hundreds of programs and political parties, but no one was following and keeping record of the actions of the previous government.
“Now this government will know that Tunisians are following its actions and keeping track of what it does. This initiative will serve the post-transition period, it will become as a tradition for people to track their elected government, and we voted for you, what are you achieving for us?” Garoui asked.
The announcement of the government occurred as the National Constituent Assembly members prepared to begin a final vote on the country’s new constitution.
Racha Haffar is The Atlantic Post’s Tunisia Correspondent, based in Tunis.
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Racha Haffar 