Tunisian interior minister announces resignation

Sharphedin, an aide to President Qais Said, has made fewer public appearances in recent months.

Tunisian Interior Minister Tawfiq Sharfeddin says he has resigned for family reasons as his government cracks down on prominent dissident figures and his campaign against sub-Saharan Africans has sparked international outrage. .

Sharphedin, an aide to President Kais Said, told reporters on Friday that he wanted to spend more time with his children after his wife Salwa died last year.

Charfeddine, 54, who has held the position since October 2021, told reporters he wanted to thank the president for “his understanding and for allowing me to be relieved of his duties.”

Salwa died in June in a fire caused by a gas leak at her home.

Said, who has yet to announce a replacement for Sharphedin, who at one stage was seen as the Tunisian official closest to the president, has made fewer public appearances in recent months.

Said has increased his grip on the security forces since being dismissed in July 2021. Hikemmechichi government, shut down parliament And before writing a new constitution that was passed last year, it transitioned to rule by decree.

Charfeddine also served as interior minister under Mechichi, but Mechichi sacked him in January 2021 after relations between the president and prime minister broke down. After dismissing Mechichi, he was reappointed to Saeed.

In recent weeks Tunisian authorities have detained prominent opposition figures those who accuse Sayid in the coup, and indicted them for conspiracy against national security.

Police are also cracking down on sub-Saharan Africans without residence permits. Human rights groups have accused them of detaining hundreds of people and turning a blind eye to racist attacks.

According to a February 21 Facebook post, Said called on security forces and authorities to detain and deport the migrants, calling the migration a conspiracy. Changing Tunisia’s demographics By making it “the only African country” that has nothing to do with the Arab and Islamic worlds.

Police have since detained hundreds of migrants, landlords have evicted hundreds from their homes and hundreds have had their jobs laid off, the Tunisian Economic and Social Rights Forum said.