Tunis, Jan 17 (TIWN) Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has announced a cabinet reshuffle, the first since his government assumed office on September 2, 2020.

“The aim of this reshuffle is to achieve greater efficiency in the work of the government,” Mechichi said at a press conference in the capital Tunis. The new line-up, which does not include any women, must be approved by parliament. A few hours before the announcement, Mechichi had met with President Kais Saied, who insisted the “integrity” of proposed ministers should “raise no doubt,” according to a statement from the presidency. “There is no place (in the government) for people who are subject to legal proceedings” or to “doubts about their background or their behavior that could undermine the state and the credibility of its institutions and the legitimacy of its decisions,” Saied said.