The Tunisian presidency announced on Sunday the dismissal of the consuls in Paris and Milan and the opening of “in-depth financial and administrative” audits in the two consulates.

President Kais Saied, going through several ordinances, decided to replace the Consul General of Tunisia in Paris, Taher Arbaoui, with one of his relatives, Ridha Gharsallaoui, who had been Minister of the Interior since the end of July. The consul general in Milan, Adel Ben Abdallah, is also recalled, and replaced by Khalil Jendoubi, according to an official statement posted on Facebook. In the press release, it was further announced that the president had “instructed the Foreign Ministry to carry out in-depth financial and administrative control” within the two consulates.

Mr. Gharsallaoui, former national security adviser to the presidency, was appointed Minister of the Interior on July 29 to succeed Hichem Mechichi, who was both head of government and in charge of the Interior. President Saied sacked Mr. Mechichi on July 25, when he assumed full powers (executive, legislative and judicial), also freezing the activities of parliament and regaining control over judicial matters.

In a different context, the presidency announced last week the end of missions of 10 ambassadors, notably in Berlin, Ankara, Beijing and Doha, as well as 6 consuls including those in Rome and Palermo, Lyon and Grenoble. Their missions were actually completed since August, but these diplomatic movements were not formalized until November 22, through various presidential decrees.