Tunisia president launches crackdown against graft
Saied accuses 460 businessmen of owing $4.9b to the state; top labour union pushes for a roadmap to end the political crisis; calm returns to streets
Tunisia’s President Kais Saied accused 460 businessmen of embezzlement as he declared a crackdown on corruption, days after grabbing power in what his opponents have labelled a “coup.”
In his comments late Wednesday, the president singled out for criticism “those who plunder public money.”
Saied accused the 460 businessmen of owing 13.5 billion dinars ($4.9 billion) to the state, citing the findings of a commission of inquiry into graft under former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
“This money must be returned to the Tunisian people,” he said, adding that he intends to offer the businessmen “judicial arbitration.”
In exchange for dropping proceedings, the reimbursed money would be injected into less developed parts of Tunisia.
Saied also asked traders and wholesalers to “lower prices” in a crisis-hit economy where soaring inflation has eaten away at the purchasing power of consumers.
He also called for a revival of phosphate production, one of the country’s few natural resources often used for agricultural fertiliser.
Gafsa Phosphate Company, a former flagship of the Tunisian economy, has seen its production collapse since the 2011 revolution, due to a lack of investment and bouts of social unrest.
Saiedraisedsuspicionsofcorruptionthatsurround the industry, referring to “people in parliament who protect themselves with parliamentary immunity.”
Hours before his comments, prosecutors appointed by Saied as part of emergency measures announced the opening of an investigation into political parties suspected of receiving foreign funds for campaigning in 2019 elections.
On Wednesday evening, the president also announced the establishment of a crisis unit to manage the COVID-19 outbreak, supervised by a senior military officer.
The UGTT, Tunisia’s powerful labour union said on Thursday it was preparing a roadmap for steering the country out of political crisis that it would present to Saied.
However the streets of Tunisian cities appeared calm on Thursday after major parties decided earlier in the week to avoid any major protests or confrontations for now, and after Saied imposed stricter COVID-19 measures.
The UGTT won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 for its work as part of a civil society “quartet” that helped negotiate an end to an earlier democratic crisis.
Saeid’s actions generated an immediate outpouring of support late on Sunday in major cities, where people had grown increasingly angry at the government’s perceived inept handling of the economy and COVID-19 crisis.
An opinion poll published in Tunisian media on Wednesday by Emhrod, a company whose surveys before the 2019 election were close to the eventual results, said nearly nine in 10 Tunisians backed his actions.
Years of failure by the political elite to meaningfully address the country’s many problems, aggravated by the pandemic, have infuriated ordinary Tunisians and helped spur backing for Saied on Sunday.
But people do want to see results. “There is no blank cheque. It’s true that we have faith in him and we believe in his good intentions, but the implementation remains an obstacle. He must come out every day to tell us what he will do,” said Hatem Belkadhi, a man speaking on a central Tunis street.
There is no indication that Saied will find it any easier to handle the country’s economic problems than successive past governments.
While foreign lenders demand clear economic reforms to put Tunisia’s fiscal position into better order, the UGTT is ready to mobilise against moves that rebound on poorer people - including subsidy cuts or reductions to the public wage bill.
Saied’s advisers lack experience in direct governance, while the difficult decisions that will be needed to manage the situation may undermine his support said Tarek Megerisi of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
“His popularity now is a law of diminishing returns. Everything he does is going to lose him some supporters,” he said.
Meanwhile Attayar, a mid-sized political party in parliament, switched on Thursday to voice support for Saied’s position having earlier accused him of a coup. It said it understood the exceptional measures and their motives.