Dn a new episode in the fierce institutional battle being played out in Tunisia, President Kaïs Saïed, who granted himself full powers last July, dismissed nearly 60 magistrates on Thursday 2 June for corruption and obstructing investigations, after having reinforced, via a decree, its supervision of the authority supervising the judicial system.
New charge against the justice system
A list of 57 magistrates was published overnight in the Official Journal in a decree justifying their dismissal for “concealment of terrorist affairs”, “corruption”, “sexual harassment”, “collusion” with political parties and “disruption of the functioning of Justice “. President Saïed had previously announced “a historic decision”, following a council of ministers on Wednesday evening.
Among the dismissed magistrates who could be prosecuted are a former spokesperson for the counter-terrorism unit, a former director general of customs and the former president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM).
The dismissals also concern magistrates suspected of having obstructed the investigation into the assassinations, in 2013, of two left-wing leaders, Chokri Belaïd and Mohamed Brahmi, attributed to jihadists.
The Head of State amended the law governing the CSM, the supervisory authority of Tunisian justice, to be able to dismiss them, citing an “attack on public security or the supreme interest of the country”. The decree allows him to dismiss “any magistrate because of an act attributed to him that is likely to compromise the reputation of the judiciary, its independence or its proper functioning”.
Opposition headwind
These dismissals are based on “simple suspicions without a judicial decision”, denounced the National Salvation Front, a coalition of a dozen opposition organizations, including the Islamist-inspired party Ennahdha, a pet peeve of Kaïs Saïed. “It’s a settling of accounts with the magistrates” who are “against the coup by Mr. Saïed”, added Ghazi Chaouachi, president of the Democratic Current, to the press.
His party and four others, including the Workers’ Party of Hamma Hammami, a fierce opponent of the regime of former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, announced Thursday their boycott of a referendum “imposed” by President Saied.
In February, Kaïs Saïed had dissolved the CSM, before re-establishing it on a provisional basis by changing its composition. It is an independent constitutional body, established in 2016, whose members are elected in majority by the Parliament. Since the 2011 revolution, which overthrew Ben Ali, this assembly has been dominated by coalitions led by Ennahdha.
The Tunisian president also recently changed the composition of the electoral authority (ISIE) which oversees elections in Tunisia.
Since July 25, 2021, ensuring to act in the interest of the country, Kaïs Saïed concentrates all the powers and directs Tunisia by decree-laws, raising fears of an autocratic drift in the cradle of the Arab Springs.
To break the impasse caused by his coup, described as a “coup” by his opponents, the president has proposed a roadmap which provides for a referendum on the Constitution on July 25 and early legislative elections on December 17. .
Partners get impatient
In addition to the political crisis, Tunisia is in the throes of serious economic difficulties. Over-indebted, the country is trying to obtain a new loan from the International Monetary Fund of at least 4 billion dollars.
In the meantime, these new dismissals of magistrates are likely to exacerbate tensions even more. The powerful Tunisian trade union center UGTT has already announced a nationwide strike in the public sector on June 16 to protest against galloping inflation and prevent the privatization of large state companies. However, the government needs the support of the UGTT to sustain its reform program which it has submitted to the IMF. “All the staff” of the 159 public institutions and companies will stop work in order to obtain “immediate negotiations to restore the purchasing power of Tunisians”, the UGTT said in a statement. The union accused, in its press release, President Kaïs Saïed of “undermining the principles of negotiation” and of “going back on previously concluded agreements” while the country is facing “crazy and continuous price hikes”, with inflation of 7.5% in April (over one year).
However, the government has submitted a reform plan to the IMF which provides for a freeze in the civil service wage bill, a gradual reduction in certain state subsidies and the restructuring of state enterprises.
But the IMF wants these promises to be supported by the social partners, including the UGTT, to guarantee their application. On Monday, the rating agency Fitch deplored that the tensions between the government and the UGTT are hampering negotiations with the IMF, deeming it “very difficult” to “adopt political and economic reforms without the support of the UGTT”. Last week, the union announced its refusal to participate in a “national dialogue” process launched by the head of state, which excludes political parties.
