President Baji Caid Essebsi’s proposed law for economic and financial reconciliation has stirred up the political and civil society landscape in Tunisia. Maya Jeribi, secretary general of the Al Joumhouri party considered it a “law for reconciliation and corruption laundering”. Four other leftist and centre parties (Ettakattol, Courant démocratique, l’Alliance démocratique and Mouvement du Peuple) called for a rally on 12 September in order to protest against the draft bill of law. The leftist opposition Popular Front party has also taken a strong position against the draft bill and participated in the protests last week, which were fiercely repressed by the police. Mongi Rahoui, a Popular Front MP told a local radio “the opposition is ready to breach the state of emergency and hold marches everywhere against the law for economic reconciliation.” The opposition fears that the proposed law would not only be used to clear corrupt businessmen of charges and bring them back into the system, but also render void any results of the Truth and Justice Committee. On the other hand, supporters of the proposed law say the measure is necessary in order to unfreeze capital that is needed to re-dynamise the economy. Ennahdha’s position remains ambiguous in this debate. In various statements and opinion pieces, figures of Ennahdha have said that a balance should be struck between economic development needs and transitional justice. The proposed law is another challenge for Ennahdha, as large segments of its youth base are restless. They do not understand why Ennahdha would support such a law that goes contrary, they think, to safeguarding the objectives of the 2011 revolution. A spokesperson for the presidency said that the upcoming 12 September opposition rally would be banned due to the state of emergency. Human rights NGOs fear that the police has resumed its old practices including torture and that the anti-terrorism law, passed recently, is being used to crack down on liberties rather than to fight terrorism.
Links for more information:
http://kapitalis.com/tunisie/2015/09/05/tunisie
http://kapitalis.com/tunisie/2015/09/04/reconciliation-economique
http://kapitalis.com/tunisie/2015/09/03/reconciliation-economique
http://nawaat.org/portail/2015/09/01/terrorism-and-ict
