Tunisian minister sacked over ‘differences’

TUNIS: Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid announced that he had dismissed Justice Minister Salah Ben Aissa, without saying why. But Ben Aissa said there were unspecified political differences between the two of them, and that he had been preparing his resignation when he got the sack.
Late last month, Ben Aissa made a controversial call for scrapping an article of the penal code that stipulates jail terms of up to three years for homosexual acts.
The premier’s Facebook page carried an announcement Tuesday that Essid had “decided to dismiss” Ben Aissa from his post, but did not say why. “Something happened in recent days. There was a big disagreement, and this decision followed. I was asked to do something I could not do. My resignation was ready in my office, but Essid’s decision was quicker.”