Tunisian Minister Quits on Policy Disputes

Tunisian minister for administrative reform, Mohamed Abbou, has decided to resign due to policy disputes within the government, the official TAP press agency reported Sunday.

Abbou, who occupies a leading position in the Congress for the Republic Party (CPR), one of the three leading parties in Tunisia, announced his resignation Saturday evening.

He said his decision to resign was not due to the latest political disputes triggered by Libyan former Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi’s extradition by Tunisia’s Ennahdha-led government, but because he was not given enough leeway to fight corruption.

Abbou said he hoped this decision would have “no consequences on the governmental coalition in this delicate juncture of time.”

He also denied that the move was part of any early electoral campaigning bid, adding that the current president Moncef Marzouki will be CPR’s candidate for the next presidential elections.

Commenting on the recent resignation of the president’s chief communication advisor, Ayoub Massoudi, Abbou said Massoudi was under great pressure following “dysfunctions” within his department.

Massoudi was the second presidential advisor to resign, after the president’s chief economic advisor, Chawki Abid, resigned a few weeks ago amid growing tensions between Ennahdha and its partners within the ruling troika.