More than 70 new appointments in the diplomatic corps were published in the latest issue of the Official Journal of the Republic of Tunisia (JORT), dated September 15, 2021.
According to the Order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians abroad from 3 September 2021, they concern different ranks: ministers plenipotentiaries hors classe, ministers plenipotentiaries, general managers of documents and archives, chief managers of documents and archives, chief analyst and chief engineer.
It is worth noting that, these nominations have been criticized because of the large number of beneficiaries: So what are the criteria and why so many at the same time?
In this context, the Secretary General of the Syndicate of the Diplomatic Corps, Brahim Rezgui, explained to “JDD Tunisia”, this Friday, September 17, 2021, that the employees of the Ministry of the Interior have been demanding for several years to obtain their right to promotion guaranteed by statutes, which was delayed for several years. Unlike other services where agents have benefited from their legitimate promotions.
Regarding the high number of those who have been promoted to the categories of Minister Plenipotentiary and Minister Plenipotentiary “without rank”, Rezgui affirmed that the promotions concern two consecutive years, 2019 and 2020, while the last promotion published last year concerned 2018. He clarified that the publication of promotions is cumulative for two years and that the ministry has allocated the necessary budget for new appointments for a long time.
Our interlocutor added that the promotions concern 104 employees of the diplomatic corps, with regard to the ranks of adviser, minister plenipotentiary and minister plenipotentiary without rank, noting that the ministry will publish in the coming days the promotions of 35 employees to the grade of advisers.
How are the ranks distributed?
To get more details, the General Secretary of the Syndicate of the Diplomatic Corps, Brahim Rezgui, explained that the ranks of posts in the diplomatic corps are first established in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, in addition to Decree No. 1077 of the July 22, 1991, relating to the special status of the agents of the diplomatic corps of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Article 23 of the aforementioned decree stipulates that the diplomatic corps comprises the following ranks: minister plenipotentiary hors classe, ministers plenipotentiaries, adviser for foreign affairs, secretary for foreign affairs.
