Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has dismissed Energy Minister Fatma Thabet amid growing controversy over renewable energy projects set to be voted on in parliament. According to the Daily Maverick, Saied’s government is seeking to pass draft laws on renewable energy which will be put to a vote in parliament. However, it gave no detailed reasons for Thabet’s dismissal. The laws will support the development of renewable energy projects with a planned capacity of 600 megawatts, with 500 million euros ($585 million) as total investment. Some lawmakers and political parties are against the developments, describing them as “energy colonisation” and criticising the exclusion of the national state electricity company from related contracts, which were allegedly awarded exclusively to foreign firms.
