News Center - Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi reshuffled the cabinet on Saturday evening, January 16th, the new cabinet includes 11 ministers but no women.

 The National Union of Tunisian Women members have expressed their dissatisfaction about the exclusion of women in the new cabinet.

Radhia Al-Jarbi stated that the new cabinet is evidence of the male mentality of the current Tunisian leaders and politicians.

The head of the National Union of Tunisian Women, Radhia Al- Jarbi, said that the prime minister wasted public money by not including any women in the new ministerial cabinet, because 60% of university graduates are women and the state has invested all their money for their education.

Turkia Bin Khethir is a chairwoman of the Tunisian Women Voters Association and she expressed the association's dissatisfaction because there are no women in the ministerial cabinet reshuffled by Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi on Saturday.

Turkiya bin Khethir criticized the exclusion of women in the new ministerial cabinet and she said, “This is male mentality and discrimination against women.”

 She said that the association would launch an advocacy campaign to call for the participation of women in decision-making. She stressed that supporting the presence of women would mean supporting the equality between male and female citizens.

Women leaders follow the political changes in the Tunisian political scene in the recent period in fear because they notice that the presence of Tunisian women has decreased in the recent parliamentary elections. The number of women’s representatives in the new parliament fall to 23%, while it was 29%.

 Feminists believe that political concerns are the most prominent challenges against women now. Women demand to be represented in government and organizations by women because Tunisian women have experiences and competence to be representative in all political and administrative positions in the state.

 After the general elections held in 2014, the percent of female MPs in the parliament is about 31%.

Number of women who run for the municipal election in Tunisia is 68, as 19 % in the last municipal elections.