Tunisia

16 Dec 2021; MEMO: Tunisia's former President, Moncef Marzouki, has described the speech delivered by his successor Kais Saied on Monday evening as one which "deepens the crisis" in the country and confirms the current president's "inability" to run the country, Arabi 21 has reported. "The only solution," said Marzouki, "is to resume the peaceful struggle to get out of the dilemma."

TUNIS, Dec 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — In the presence of Tunisian President Kais Saied and his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune, 27 bilateral agreements were signed during a ceremony held on Wednesday at the palace of Carthage in Tunis.

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: Tunisia's government has proposed a ten per cent cut in the civil servants' wage bill, Secretary General of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), Noureddine Taboubi, announced yesterday.

"The Tunisian government, which says in public that it would be able to fulfill all its obligations to the people, has told us in closed-door meetings that it cannot pay public salaries," Taboubi said in a statement, stressing the UGTT was "strongly rejecting the government proposal."

13 Dec 2021; MEMO: Tunisia's Assembly of People's Representatives (parliament) is preparing to resume its activities in the coming days, Deputy Speaker Maher Medhioub said on Sunday.

Medhioub wrote on his Facebook that the parliament is to resume its meetings virtually due to the "unlawful" closure of its premises by President Kais Saied.

Medhioub said the parliament has been in a state of continuous meeting since the start of October 2021.

Pressure has increased domestically and internationally on Tunisian President Kais Saied to set a clear time limit for his "extraordinary measures". President Saied recently expressed his intention to change the country's constitution, considering it a major cause of Tunisia's political crisis.

10 Dec 2021; MEMO: Tunisia has effectively left the club of democratic countries after the country's President assumed executive authority earlier this year, precipitating in a complicated political crisis, a former senior official said on Friday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

09 Dec 2021; MEMO: The head of Tunisia's Ennahda Movement Rached Ghannouchi yesterday met with the French Ambassador to Tunis André Parant and discussed the latest developments in the country.

A statement posted on Ghannouchi's official Facebook page said he and Parant discussed "the most important developments in the Tunisian arena and emphasised the importance of supporting the relationship between Tunisia and France to serve the interests of both countries."

Ennahda has the largest parliamentary bloc with 53 deputies out of 217.

TUNIS, Dec 8 (NNN-Xinhua) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Tunisia Tuesday on an official visit at the invitation of his Tunisian counterpart Kais Saied, the Tunisian presidency announced in a statement.

Abbas was greeted at Tunis-Carthage International Airport by the Tunisian president, in the presence of senior Tunisian leaders and the officials from the Palestinian Embassy in Tunis.

Tunisia is the second stop of the Palestinian president’s North African tour, which began with a visit to Algeria.

06 Dec 2021; MEMO: Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday dismissed his country's consuls in the cities of Paris and Milan and ordered a "financial and administrative audit" at the two consulates.

In a statement the presidency said Saied instructed Paris' Consul General Taher Arbaoui be replaced with Ridha Gharsallaoui, and Milan's Consul General Adel Bin Abdullah with Khalil Jendoubi.

Since 24 November, Saied has dismissed more than 20 diplomats in many countries, without providing reasons.

TUNIS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Tunisia's powerful UGTT union called for early elections on Saturday, saying it was concerned for the country's democratic gains because of the president's reluctance to announce a roadmap for political reforms.

UGTT leader Noureddine Taboubi's comments, in a speech to thousands of his supporters, put more pressure on President Kais Saied, more than four months after he seized all political powers.