Tunisia’s Prime Minister, Hichem Mechichi, on Tuesday, sacked the country’s Minister of Interior, Taoufik Charfeddine.
A cabinet statement said Mechichi would supervise the interior ministry on an interim basis pending the appointment of Charfeddine’s successor.
The statement did not give reasons for the decision but Charfeddine is seen as close to Tunisian President Kais Saied. His sack is seen as underscoring tensions between the North African country’s two most powerful leaders.
Mechichi, an ex-interior minister, took office in September.
He had previously sacked the ministers of culture and environment from his government.
Mechichi is expected in coming weeks to reshuffle his cabinet amid demands from pro-government parties in parliament to include party figures in the government.
Opposition parties and the presidency want a continued technocratic cabinet.
Parliament approved a technocratic government in a confidence vote four months ago.
Tunisia is the only Arab country to have managed a peaceful transition to democracy after the “Arab Spring” uprisings that swept through the region in 2011.
But the North African nation’s economy has been crippled by high debt and deteriorating public services, made worse by the global coronavirus pandemic.
