Tunisian President Kais Saied, who announced about two weeks ago the suspension of parliament and the dismissal of the prime minister while taking over the executive authority, has appointed a new health minister from military ranks. The presidency stated in a statement on Friday, "President Kais Saied issued a presidential order today to appoint Mr. Ali Marabet as the person in charge of managing the Ministry of Health."
Dr. Colonel Ali Marabet, who had been overseeing a vaccination campaign conducted by the military in southern Tunisia, took the oath before the president. He succeeds interim Health Minister Mohamed Trabelsi, who was appointed by the dismissed Prime Minister on July 20. Marabet is the fifth minister to hold the health portfolio since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, amid a politically and healthily troubled situation.
Marabet's appointment is part of a series of appointments made by Saied since he assumed executive power on July 25, after appointing a new minister for interior, economy, and communication technologies. Saied had previously criticized the government's performance in a video posted on the official presidency page, saying, "They left many citizens without the minimum amount of oxygen."
Tunisia has witnessed a significant outbreak of COVID-19 in recent months, leading to overcrowded hospitals and a severe shortage of oxygen, with the number of deaths exceeding twenty thousand and the number of patients surpassing 600 thousand since the pandemic began in 2020. This was due to the late arrival of vaccines, non-compliance with health rules and distancing, in addition to political disputes affecting the authority and the difficulty in implementing new measures given the challenging situation the country is facing, which recorded the worst death rate in the world based on official figures two weeks ago, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
Tunisia has been able to secure more than six million doses of vaccine through donations and direct purchases, and is organizing an open vaccination day on Sunday for those over the age of forty.
