Tunisian General Labor Union calls for national dialog
More than 6,000 trade unionists gathered in the capital Tunis for a national dialog and a roadmap to get out of the state of emergency announced by President Kais Saied at the end of July.
AFP correspondents reported that about 6,000 trade unionists and activists participated in a gathering in the Kasbah Square in the center of the capital to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the assassination of union founder Farhat Hached by Red Hand elements in 1952.
From the podium, the Secretary General of the Tunisian General Labor Union called on President Saied to launch a “national dialog” and to develop a “road map”.
“Tunisia will not be built individually”, Secretary General Noureddine Taboubi told AFP, in a clear reference to President Saied, who called for “participatory” policies.
The president surprised everyone on July 25th by assuming full executive and legislative authority after the prime minister was dismissed and parliament was suspended.
He then issued a presidential order on September 22nd that included those “exceptional measures” and announced that they would continue “until further notice”, and that he would work on drafting “political reforms” including amending the constitution.
The secretary general of Tunisia’s largest trade union organization called for “learning from the mistakes of the past”, in reference to the uniqueness of the reign of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled by a popular revolution.
“The absence of participatory dialog and interaction with national political and social forces will only lead to turning the word of the people into conflicting entities that are incapable of joint building and peaceful coexistence”, Taboubi said in his speech.
He called for “an open national dialog that brings together all the forces that are keen on national sovereignty and believe in the independence state and adhere to the values of freedom and social progress, individual and collective freedoms and social justice”.
“Tunisians are not demanding much today, they just want to clarify the vision and the general direction of the country”, he said.
He urged the Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labor Union to address the most important issues, such as “rampant unemployment, deep poverty, stalled or diverted investment projects, and pending judicial cases”.
He also called for holding “premature elections that are democratic and transparent”, warning that “despair has reached its limits and the manifestations of disobedience have begun to threaten with an undesirable explosion”.
“President Saied’s measures have been criticized domestically and internationally, especially with no clear horizon”.
Local media said that the president could unveil new measures on December 17th, the day he declared a national holiday marking the start of the 2010/2011 revolution, which he said was not over.
