The administrative body of the Tunisian General Labor Union strongly condemned what it described as a speech of incitement, treachery and mobilization by President Kais Saied against the union and a number of components of Tunisian society, and called on Tunisian trade unionists to defend the labor union.
During a press conference held on Friday, after an emergency meeting of its administrative body, the Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labor Union, Noureddine Taboubi, said that the union has become more determined to save the country from what he described as absurd, and to present his initiative that worried the authority, as he put it.
Al-Taboubi denounced the recent statements of President Kais Saied, accusing him of indirectly inviting the people to fight, and of trying to divert attention from the weak participation in the legislative elections.
During his speech at the meeting of the emergency administrative body held by the Labor Union, Taboubi said that President Saeed “chose the wrong path with a speech to intimidate and intimidate the people, at a time when the country is going through difficult situations at all levels.”
He continued, saying, “The President of the Republic addresses his people with threats and intimidation from the army barracks or from the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, and he wants to say that the military and security forces are with him and support his choices.”
For his part, a spokesman for the Labor Union, Sami Al-Tahri, affirmed the union’s adherence to dialogue as a way out of the current crisis in the country, but he considered that the presence of security personnel inside the meeting room of the union’s administrative body is a dangerous precedent that has not occurred since 2011.
According to a statement published by the Tunisian General Labor Union on its website on Friday evening and reported by the Anatolia news agency, the union decided to carry out a series of strikes in various sectors in protest against the targeting of trade union work.
The union called for distancing itself from the judiciary, not involving it in labor disputes, trying to employ it, and seeking to exercise guardianship over it, as the statement put it.
Last Tuesday, the Tunisian president visited the barracks of the National Guard in the Aouina region of the capital, Tunis, and called on the leaders of the National Guard to “confront those who conspired against the state,” without naming any party. He also called on them to “respond to the people’s demands” in achieving accountability, as he put it.
Saied also considered in his statements that the trade union right is guaranteed under the constitution, but this right cannot be transformed to achieve political goals, he said.
Last Sunday, Tunisia held the second round of early legislative elections, with a turnout rate of 11.4%, the electoral commission, and it was the latest episode in a series of exceptional measures imposed by Saied, which included the dissolution of the Judicial Council and Parliament, the issuance of legislation by presidential decrees, and the adoption of a new constitution on July 25, 2022.
In a statement issued by its executive office, Ennahda movement described the turnout in the second round of the legislative elections as a “popular message” to the authority, and called for concessions to be made for the success of a comprehensive national dialogue.
The statement stated that “the boycott of about 90% of the citizens of the alleged farce of the legislative elections can only be read as a clear and obvious popular message to end the legitimacy and legitimacy of the Qais Saied regime.”
On the other hand, protesters held a stand in front of the Military Court in the capital, Tunis, against what they described as a coup and the use of military courts to abuse President Saied’s opponents. Lawyers raised slogans against what they said was the trial of civilians before military courts.
