Tunisia-Oussama Khlifi: Government team was not homogeneous

President of Qalb Tounes parliamentary bloc  Oussama Khlifi said that prime minister Hichem Mechichi was designated by the President of the Republic and was not n by the parties. Nevertheless, half of the members of the government were inflicted on him. He also explained that despite the heterogeneity of the government team, Mechichi has rejected to bring down the government because of the consequences that may follow under Article 100 of the Constitution which states:

“If the office of Head of Government becomes permanently vacant for any reason except for resignation and withdrawal of the confidence of the Assembly, the President of the Republic shall ask the candidate of the ruling party or coalition to form a government within one month. If this period expires without forming a government, or if the government formed fails to receive a vote of confidence, the President shall ask the individual deemed most capable to form a government that presents itself before the Assembly to obtain a vote of confidence following the provisions of Article 89. The outgoing government shall continue to administer government business under the supervision of one of its members to be selected by the Council of Ministers and nominated by the President of the Republic until the new government takes up its functions”.

“This is a small government but we still have to deal with the situation,” he stated. He further revealed that the Qalb Tounes bloc has prepared, in coordination with the political parties that support the government, a list of priorities correlating to governance and a second list relating to priorities of  state institutions, including the Constitutional Court.

In his view, it is necessary to streamline administrative procedures to enable current members of government to perform theirs functions properly.