Hichem Mechichi (; born January 1974) is a Tunisian politician who served as the

Prime Minister of Tunisia A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

from September 2020 to July 2021, when he was unconstitutionally dismissed by President

Kais Saied Kais Saied ( ; born 22 February 1958) is a Tunisian politician, jurist and retired assistant professor of law currently serving as the fifth president of Tunisia since October 2019. He was president of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional ...

who dissolved the parliament, the higher council of justice, the elected county councils, the anti-corruption commission, and monopolized all state powers. He held the post of

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in 2020 before being appointed head of government.

Education

Hichem Mechichi holds a master's degree in law from the faculty of law and political science from Tunis El Manar University, and a master's degree in law, political science and public administration from

École nationale d'administration The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...

. He is also a former student of the long international cycle, of the Republic promotion (2005–2007) of the National School of Administration of France, the institution paying tribute to him via its website after his appointment as head of government.

Career

Mechichi was a member of the National Commission of Investigation on Corruption and Embezzlement, founded in 2011 and chaired by Abdelfattah Amor. In 2014, he was appointed Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Transport, then the same post successively at the ministries of Social Affairs and Public Health. He was then Director General of the National Agency for the Sanitary and Environmental Control of Products. Appointed by President Kaïs Saïed as his first adviser in charge of Legal Affairs, on 11 February 2020, he was appointed on the 27 of the same month as Minister of the Interior in the government of Elyes Fakhfakh.

Prime minister

On 25 July 2020, in the midst of a political crisis, Saïed appointed Mechichi head of government, with the task of forming a government in one month and obtaining the confidence of the

Assembly of the Representatives of the People The Assembly of the Representatives of the People ( ', ; ARP) is the lower house of the Parliament of Tunisia. The Assembly replaced the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia, Constituent Assembly and was first Tunisian parliamentary election, 2014, e ...

. Later on, he assumed office on 2 September 2020. He tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

on 25 June 2021. After a series of protests, the Tunisian president dismissed Mechichi as prime minister on 25 July.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mechichi, Hichem Living people 1974 births 21st-century Tunisian politicians COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia École nationale d'administration alumni Independent politicians in Tunisia Interior ministers of Tunisia People from Jendouba Governorate Prime ministers of Tunisia Tunis El Manar University alumni