President Beji Caid Essebsi appointed Youssef Chahed, 41 as the new Prime Minister on August 3, after Parliament voted out Habib Essed last month for his handling of the economic crisis and the security situation. But opposition to the coalition government say Chahed is not the right man to lead.

President Beji Caid Essebsi appointed Youssef Chahed, 41 as the new Prime Minister on August 3, after Parliament voted out Habib Essed last month for his handling of the economic crisis and the security situation. But opposition to the coalition government say Chahed is not the right man to lead.

Among these opposition parties are the left-wing Popular Front, the Republican Party, al-Masar Party, People’s Movement, and other parties, especially Movement of Tunisia’s Project (MoTP) whose leaders have broken away from Nidaa Tounes.

Leave your son back home

The controversy over Chahed’s appointement has coincided with a campaign led by online activists against Essebsi’s son, Hafedh Essebsi, entitled ‘Leave Your Son Back Home’, reflecting Tunisians’ rejection of the intervention of Essebsi’s family in the country’s political affairs and power.

The Executive Director of Nidaa Tounes and its negotiator in the consultations to form the new government, Hafedh has been a source of disagreement in the political arena. His critics blame his father for his son’s ascendancy to succeed him as the head of Nidaa Tounes. That development led to a rift within the party’s ranks, and caused a wave of resignations where some of its leaders broke away and formed the MoTP. This has also reduced the number of Nidaa Tounes MPs to fewer than that of Ennahda.

Hafedh’s opponents have gone so far as to write slogans under the statue of the late President Habib Bourguiba, demanding that he avoid taking political decisions within his party, coupled with fiery statements made inside the parliament by leftwing opponent Ammar Amroussia.

Chahed on the frontline

Chahed became involved in politics after the 2011 Tunisian revolution. His appointment started a very heated debate due to alleged kinship ties with Essebsi. Although Chahed has categorically denied any such relationship, some still insist that there is kinship because the wife of Chahed’s uncle is the sister of Moiz Belkhodja, husband of Essebsi’s daughter.

When Essebsi won the 2014 presidential elections, a crisis swept through Nidaa Tounes as a consequence of the internal differences over his successor. To find a way out, Essebsi appointed Chahed to head a consensual committee to elect new leaderships of the party.

These consensual elections however only resulted in the win of Hafedh as head of Nidaa Tounes, which caused some to believe that Chahed’s primary role was only to pave the way for Hafedh’s winning.

During his current consultations to form the government, Chahed is required to win over opposition parties and ensure their support for his upcoming government about which he said: “It will include qualified national politicians with broad representation of youth and women.”