Tunisia’s president Kais Saied has made yet another government reshuffle that affected most cabinet members ahead of a presidential election set for October 6.
The overhaul, which introduced new economy, defense and foreign affairs ministers, took place following a wave of arrests targeting political opponents and presidential hopefuls.
The reshuffle was also made against the backdrop of a worsening economic crisis, following a standoff in talks with the IMF over a bailout deal conditioned on subsidy cuts.
Saied has fostered his power grab over the Tunisian state apparatus, destroying checks and balances and controlling the judiciary, which has been accused of setting arbitrary restrictions to exclude opposition figures from the presidential race.
Many credible presidential hopefuls have either been disqualified or jailed under bogus charges.
Saied is running for elections against two less-known candidates: Ayachi Zammel and Zouhair Magzhaoui, who are expected to play the role of pacemakers in the electoral one-man show.