Tunisia: Mohammed Abbou resigns
A supporter of Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda party touches the national flag on October 26, 2011 at the movement headquarters in Tunis.
Tunisian Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Reform Mohammed Abbou announced his resignation today during a press conference at the office of the Congress for the Republic Party.
Tunisia's government is made up of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali's moderate Islamist Ennahda Party and two other leftist parties. Abbou told the Associated Press he quit his post because he had wanted to fight corruption, but had not been given enough authority by Jebali to do so.
"The agreements decided upon with the government concerning my prerogatives were not respected, so I decided to stay home," said Abbou, according to Agence France-Presse. "I tried the entire time to convince the chief of the government, Hamadi Jebali that, without these prerogatives, I can't work." He then added that he "would not return to the government anymore."
Abbou is a member of the party of President Moncef Marzouki, who recently fought with Jebali over his decision to extradite a high ranking official from Libya, reported the AP. Marzouki's press counselor, Ayoub Messaoudi, and his economic adviser, Chawki Abid, have also recently resigned.
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The official TAP agency also confirmed that the reasons for Abbou's resignation are also "linked to a controversy related to his prerogatives, according to AFP.