Tunisian President accuses informed parties of fabricating crises; Who does he mean?

In the midst of a fierce confrontation with Ennahdha, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia, on several fronts, Tunisian President Kais Saied accused the so-called “known parties” of “seeking to inflame the situation by all means, and ignite crises in all sectors.”

In a meeting with Trade and Export Development Minister Fadhila Rebhi Ben Hamza, Saied was quoted by Tunisian radio Mosaïque as saying: The price hikes are “unacceptable” and “intentional” by those whom he called ” informed parties,” adding: “None of these successive or fabricated crises has been spared: one in water, another in medicine, one in foodstuffs and one in school supplies.”

Abusing the Tunisian People

During the meeting, which addressed the sharp rise in prices and the “illegal” speculation in a number of articles, Said stressed that he will not leave the Tunisian people to “those who tamper with their right to a decent life,” stressing the need for “strict application of the law,” and stressed that the state “will not stand idly by in the face of these practices, which amount to crimes.”

Tunisians have been complaining in recent weeks about the scarcity of foodstuffs such as canned water, vegetable oil, sugar and others, amid calls to fight the phenomenon of smuggling and price manipulation, Maghreb Voices‏ reported. Saied said last week that monopoly and speculation must be confronted after several disruptions were recorded in the supply of basic commodities, including vegetable oil and sugar.

Saied’s comments come as the price of school supplies has risen by 20% over last year, according to a Sky News television report.

Relentless war

The pace of monopoly practices has recently accelerated, but they appeared in a systematic way with the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war last February 24, which prompted Saied to issue a decree at the end of March to combat monopoly, aimed at “resisting illegal speculation to secure the regular supply of the market and secure the distribution routes,” in a “war without respite” against the monopolizers of basic foodstuffs such as flour and sugar, according to France 24 Radio.

The decree includes a package of prison and financial sanctions against violators, giving security authorities broad powers of control. The new penalties amount to life imprisonment for some offenses related to illegal speculation, which the Decree defines as “any storage or concealment of goods or goods, regardless of their origin or mode of production, which is intended to cause scarcity and disruption in the supply of goods to the market, and any artificial increase or reduction in their prices, directly or indirectly, through an intermediary, electronic means or any fraudulent methods or means”.

According to Article 17 of the decree, “A penalty of imprisonment for life and a fine of 500,000 dinars ($155,000) shall be imposed for crimes committed by a conciliator, a gang or a criminal organization, or when the products are caught with the intention of smuggling them outside the country.” The new legislation allows the authorities to confiscate the gains resulting from speculative operations.

According to France24, Tunisia has been witnessing systematic loss of basic commodities from local markets since March, prompting Saied to say: Monopoly is an act…, it is an attempt to undermine social peace and security in society,” he said, referring to Ennahdha.

Saied is engaged in confrontations on several fronts with Ennahdha, which Tunisians hold responsible for the so-called “black decade,” which saw the Brotherhood dominate Tunisian decision-making and drain the resources of the Tunisian state and the economy, resulting in Tunisia’s default.

The constitution, which was approved this month, was the latest front in the confrontation between Saied and the Brotherhood in Tunisia, months after the dissolution of the parliament with an overwhelming majority, at the end of March, eight months after the suspension of its work on July 25, 2021, in exceptional measures that his opponents described as a “coup against legitimacy,” while Ho confirmed that it is a correction to the revolutionary course.

He accused members of the dissolved parliament from Ennahdha of seeking to “divide the country and sow discord”, saying: “The stars of the sky are closer to them than that, and what they are doing now is a flagrant conspiracy against the security of the state.”