President Saied swears in three new ministers in a month as Tunisia's economic woes continue

Tunisian President Kais Saied has sworn in new education and agriculture ministers, as his popularity collapses after another low-turnout election.

On Monday, Saied sacked the former ministers, Fethi Sellaouti and Elyes Hamza respectively, a day after Tunisia's second-round vote for a toothless parliament in the politically divided nation. The presidency did not announce the reasons behind the decisions.

On 6 January, Saied also sacked the country's minister of trade and export development, Fadila Al Rabhi, and the governor of Sfax. He appointed the economist Kulthum bin Rajab as the new Minister of Trade a few days later.

On Tuesday, the President was seen swearing in the ministerial replacements, Mohamed Ali Boughdiri to education and Abdelmomen Belati to agriculture, in videos posted on the presidency's Facebook page.

Last week, only 11.3 per cent of Tunisians voted in the second-round poll of the legislation that gave extensive powers to the president, who has granted himself far-reaching authority since his dramatic 2021 power grab.

The low turnout was not a surprise as many Tunisians seem to give up hope on their country's democratic path under Saied's rule.

In July 2022, only 30 per cent of Tunisians voted on the referendum for the new constitution that strengthened Saied’s power over all extraordinary powers.

In December, Tunisia recorded the lowest electoral turnout in its recent history, 8.8 per cent, in the first round of the legislative.

Since last year, the North African state has grappled with mounting economic woes, as well as repeated labour strikes by teachers and transportation workers, along with shortages of basic goods as farmers are unable to pay for fodder.

Following Sunday’s election, the National Salvation Front, Tunisia's main opposition coalition, urged a united front against President Kais Saied "to join hands to work for change, in the form of Kais Saied's departure and early presidential elections."

The resulting public discontent has put pressure on Saied, who still argues the merits of his plan to end corruption and the elite's control over the country.

"The [final] turnout has not been announced definitively, but it has to be interpreted differently. Ninety per cent did not vote because the parliament does not represent anything for them,"  Saied told Prime Minister Najla Bouden in a video posted on his office's Facebook page.

"The past ten years made parliament into an institution that harmed the state... it was nothing like the parliament that Tunisians had dreamed of," he added. 

In July 2021, Saied froze the legislature, sacked the government and seized wide-ranging powers, in a move that was initially welcomed by several Tunisians tired of political parties seen as corrupt and ineffective.

However, two years later, many former supporters of Saied Tunisians have lost belief in him as the cash-strapped country continues to struggle with high rates of unemployment, increasing inflation and loss of freedom of expression and political opposition.