Marzouki Meets Obama, Will Meet with Iranian President

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki meets U.S. President Barack Obama, September 23, 2013. Photo credit: Tunisian Presidency’s Facebook page.

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki plans to meet with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani while in the United States for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, according to the Associated Press.

Marzouki called the recently elected Rouhani, who has been perceived as a moderate, a “key player” in the efforts to end the civil war in Syria in an interview with AP. 

“I will tell him Iran would be much more respected, accepted, in the Arab world if they put the pressure on their man in Damascus,” Marzouki said.

“Backing Syria means they are losing the whole Arab world,” he said of Iran, whose government has supported Assad.

While in New York, Marzouki met with U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday. Obama pledged U.S. readiness to help Tunisia in its transition, according to a press release from the Tunisian presidency.

Marzouki, also in the AP’s interview, repeated his offer of asylum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“If we can avoid more massacres, if we can prevent thousands of Syrian to die, why not?” Marzouki said to AP. 

“It’s a terrible, terrible decision, but why not? I am a physician, and life is much more important than anything, even justice,” he said.

Marzouki also commented on the ongoing political crisis in Tunisia in the interview, blaming the assassinations of Chokri Belaid in February and Mohamed Brahmi in July for delays in the country’s transition.

“The whole trouble we have had was because of these political assassinations. If we didn’t have them, I am quite sure that today we would have our constitution, a new government,” he said to the AP.

Commenting on the apparent failure by the Ministry of Interior to act on warnings from the CIA of Brahmi’s murder, Marzouki reportedly said, “some people probably will pay.”

Tunisians Oppose Dissolution of Assembly, Still Support the Opposition

Demonstrators march from Bab Saadoun to Rahil rally in Bardo Square, August 24, 2013. Photo credit: Tunisia Live

A new poll shows more Tunisians oppose than support opposition demands to dissolve the National Constituent Assembly and government, with many undecided.

Asked whether they favored dissolving the NCA, 48 percent of respondents opposed the measure, 37 supported and 15 percent were undecided, according to a survey conducted by Tunisian market research firm 3C Etudes. 

On another demand, dissolving the current government, 29 opposed the measure, 23 percent supported doing so immediately, 10 percent supported it, but not right now, and 38 percent were unsure.

The poll also asked about voting preferences in promised upcoming elections.

For legislative elections, 43 percent are undecided, 33.9 percent support opposition party Nidaa Tounes and 30.6 percent support Ennahdha. Both parties made gains from the last poll in June. No other parties received over 10 percent.

The leftist Popular Front coalition, which assassinated politician Mohamed Brahmi belonged to, sank from 10.2 to 9.7 percent.

For the presidency, Nidaa Tounes leader Beji Caid Essebsi led the poll, but still received only 15.2 percent, worse than his June performance. No other candidate passed the 5 percent mark, with current president Moncef Marzouki winning 3.5 percent of respondents, who were not given choices on the poll, but rather were asked who they planned to vote for.

The undecideds have increased since June, now at 34 percent.

The survey polled 1,249 adults over the phone in late August and early September and claimed to have a representative population sample.

The survey results come amid a nearly two-month long political crisis. No date has been set for elections.

The draft constitution has not been approved and there is no board of elections or electoral law, meaning that no preparations are underway for a new vote.

Work on these measures has stopped since Brahmi’s assassination in late July.

Tunisians first post-revolutionary election was held in October 2011.

Union, Continuing Mediation, Issues New Roadmap

UGTT September 17 proposal, photo courtesy Twitter user @AminKh

Tunisia’s largest labor union issued a new ‘roadmap’ Tuesday suggesting solutions to end the current political crisis, and calling for a new government to be formed within one month.

The UGTT labor union’s proposal, posted on their website, calls for talks to resolve the political deadlock that has existed since the withdrawal of opposition National Constituent Assembly (NCA) members in late July.

Tuesday’s proposal calls for a “national dialogue” session, including the president, the prime minister, the speaker of the NCA, NCA members, and representatives of political parties. 

The plan further calls for the government to resign within three weeks from the start of talks. The NCA would resume its activities and finish drafting the constitution within one month with the support of a “committee of experts.”

Political and civil society actors would decide the members of a new non-partisan government within the proposed three-week deadline for the current government’s resignation. The NCA would then vote to approve the new government. 

The NCA is also to complete a new electoral law within two weeks from the start of talks, according to the roadmap.

Other prominent national organizations such as the UTICA employers’ union and the Tunisian League of Human Rights also backed the roadmap.

Previous union efforts to mediate the quarrel between opposition parties and the governing coalition, led by the Ennahdha party, have failed.

Following weeks of sit-ins and protests since the July 25 death of opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi, the NCA resumed its meetings this week, but without the participation of 59 withdrawn opposition members.

Union Deems Ennahdha Acceptance of Roadmap Insufficient

UGTT leader Houcine Abbassi, 2012. Image credit: Paul Rosenfeld, Tunisia Live

This morning, Tunisia’s largest union, a key political broker, rejected the governing Ennahdha party’s response to a proposal for direct talks between opposing political actors, calling the party’s acceptance insufficient.

“It’s an acceptance that we refuse, since it did not contain any clear response to the majority of the mentioned points in the roadmap we proposed,” said Houcine Abbassi, secretary general of the UGTT labor union in a press conference early Saturday.

Ennahdha issued a response Saturday expressing surprise at the union’s statement, saying they had accepted the roadmap, issued Tuesday by the UGTT and three other groups, in full. They said Abbassi’s comments reflect an attempt on behalf of the union and its civil society partners to hold Ennahdha responsible for the failure of talks aiming to end the two-month political crisis.

On Thursday, Ennahdha had released a statement accepting the union’s roadmap, which sets a three week deadline for the government’s resignation after talks begin. In a short release, Ennahdha accepted the plan broadly, but did not address its individual clauses.

The opposition coalition the National Salvation Front accepted the union’s roadmap late on Friday. The two sides seemed poised to start talks before the union’s statement’s today.

Farah Samti contributed reporting.

'Retired' Eto'o in Cameroon playoff squad

Samuel Eto'o

YAOUNDE: Samuel Eto'o was named in Cameroon's 25-man squad for next month's World Cup playoff in Tunisia yesterday despite media reports saying he had retired from international football.

Cameroon's long-standing captain announced he was quitting for "family reasons" in the dressing room after they beat Libya earlier this month to clinch a playoff berth, according to a report in L'Equipe.

He made no public announcement, however, and Cameroon coach Volke Finke shrugged it off, saying the 32-year-old Chelsea striker was the right man to lead the team in their bid to qualify for an African record seventh World Cup finals.

Talismanic

The talismanic striker has had a turmoil-filled career with the Indomitable Lions and made previous threats to quit the side. He played for Cameroon at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 World Cups.

Cameroon have named a strong squad for the first-leg of the playoff at the Rades Stadium on the outskirts of Tunis on October 13.

Defenders Benoit Angbwa and Benoit Assou-Ekotto have been dropped after their 1-0 win over Libya in Yaounde on September 8, while the French-based pair of Henri Bedimo and Edgar Salli and Malaga striker Fabrice Olinga are recalled.

The return match is in Yaounde in November with the aggregate winner qualifying for the finals in Brazil next year.

Tataouin : Home of Star Wars & a Meteor Strike!

Star Wars Mos Espa set in Tozeur. Image credit: Flickr user Iñaki Martínez de Marigorta.

Over the weekend, Tunisia received a jolt from a galaxy far, far away.

A space object, likely a meteorite, fell on Sunday in a rural desert area of the Tataouine governorate in southern Tunisia, not far from the filming location of the first Star Wars movie, according to local radio reports.

Witnesses, according to Radio Tataouine, say that a bright object was seen falling from the sky at around 8 p.m. and then exploded on the ground. The streaking space object was reportedly visible from the city of Tataouine, the governorate’s capital. 

No injuries or damages have been reported from the rural, arid area.

Tataouine inspired the name of Luke Skywalker’s home planet in the Star Wars films, although series creator spelled it “Tatooine.”

Tunisians used news of the space object as an opportunity for political humor, mostly targeting President Moncef Marzouki, jabbing the leader for his manner of gazing. 

”A meteor was passing by quietly in the sky, it looked down for some reason, the meteor was bored and decided to look down only to see Marzouki in the presidential palace so it had a heart attack and fell on the spot,” posted Azyz Amami, a blogger and political activist.

“Finally we know why the president always has his eyes in the sky, he was waiting for the meteor,” Iyed Dahmani, a withdrawn National Constitution Assembly member from the opposition, wrote on Facebook.

“The meteor fell, which means that starting from today Marzouki will start looking down,” posted Facebook user Nidal Becheikh.

A military patrol is now looking for the impact site, according to radio reports.

Flooded Sfax

Flooded Sfax Thursday, September 19, 2013. Photo courtesy Facebook.

Sfax, Tunisia’s second-largest city, was submerged by floodwaters Thursday, raising concerns about the state of the community’s infrastructure.

“People were afraid for their children who went to school,” said Hedi Boujemaa of the UGTT union office in Sfax.

“Yesterday was a bleak gloomy picture, a hard day,” 

 More on infrastructure failures:

• Tunisians Suspicious of Mysterious Nightly Explosions
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• To Build Trust, Tunisia’s Secuirty Forces Must Be Reformed

“Many crowds of young students and citizens were wading through water. Many institutions did not function and means of transportation did not work,” he added.

Heavy rains and strong winds caused the flooding, and the city’s drainage system backed up, according to state news agency TAP. Traffic was nearly paralyzed, raising the ire of Sfax commuters.

Water management authorities were unable to deal with the deluge, and members of the security forces had to assist in efforts to pump water out of affected areas, radio station Mosaique FM reported. 

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Boujemaa blamed the current and former governments for failing to prevent such disasters in Sfax.

“It’s been known for many years that the infrastructure is not sufficient for changing weather conditions, and this has been the case since the former regime. The old regime and the current government have not taken practical and studied measures to protect the city,” he said.

Boujemaa added that the national government, and specifically the Ministry of Equipment and Environment, did not adequately maintain the Sfax infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing city. This has led citizens to lose trust in the government, he said.

Tunisia Live was unable to obtain a reaction from the municipal government in Sfax.

Flooding also affected the western city of Kasserine yesterday, where some areas were under 4.8 centimeters of water, according to TAP.

Asma Smadhi contributed reporting.

- See more at: http://www.tunisia-live.net/2013/09/20/floods-paralyze-sfax-locals-blame-failed-infrastructure/#sthash.HH8ZeHv4.dpuf

Opposition Questions Ennahdha’s Commitment to Roadmap Despite UGTT Agreement

Members of UGTT, UTICA, The Tunisian League of Human Rights, and the National Bar Association meet in Jendouba, September 23, 2013. Photo credit: UGTT Official Facebook page.

The UGTT, Tunisia’s largest union and a broker in political negotiations, has accepted Ennahdha’s agreement to begin direct talks after rebuking the party last week. Opposition parties, however, remain unsure of the majority party’s commitment to the union’s political roadmap.

“We bless Ennahdha’s acceptance to join the national dialogue but we have reservations as they tend to focus on the less important side-issues,” Chokri Yaich, an opposition member from the Nidaa Tounes party told Tunisia Live. 

Ennahdha agreed to participate in talks almost two weeks ago, but disagreed with conditions set out in the UGTT’s roadmap, which mandates the current government resign three weeks from the first session of talks in favor of a mutually agreeable government of technocratic leaders. The ruling coalition maintains that resignation of the current government is conditional upon the National Constituent Assemly (NCA) passing the draft constitution and preparing for elections.

The UGTT, a leading mediator, initially rejected Ennahdha’s stance. However, following Friday meetings between party leaders, the UGTT, and other civil society groups that drafted the roadmap, the union appeared satisfied with Ennahdha’s acceptance of talks.

“Ennahdha’s statement was clear. They accepted our initiative,” said Ghassen Ksibi from the UGTT’s media office. 

The UGTT labor union is set to announce the date of the first session of political talks, expected in the coming days, according to Ksibi.

Opposition politicians remain skeptical, however, and insist on the government’s public commitment to resign.

Withdrawn NCA members will not return before the current government commits to resigning by the three-week deadline, according to Nadia Chaabane, a withdrawn opposition member from Al-Massar party.

“Ennahdha is saying they agree to step down while the government’s position is still blurry. If you see all this contradiction, who can you believe?” Chaabane said.

Farida Laabidi, an Ennahdha NCA member and part of the party’s consultative Shura Council denied any ambiguity in Ennahdha’s position on the roadmap.

The government will “commit to resign” within three weeks from the first session of talks once they start if certain conditions are met, she said.

“The government will effectively resign as soon as the elections board, law and dates are ready. The rest of the details will be discussed during the dialogue. That’s why it’s called a dialogue,” she added.

Cherif Khraifi of the Workers Party criticized Ennahdha’s stance on the UGTT roadmap.

“Ennahdha is being hesitant. Its stance is misleading. They’re trying to gain time. After two months of protests and sit-ins, people are expecting a serious solution,” he said.

The UGTT, in a statement on Sunday, said the first session of talks will include President Moncef Marzouki, Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh, and head of the NCA Mustapha Ben Jaafar in addition to political parties and the union’s civil society mediating partners.

Though the list of participants match what the union originally suggested in its roadmap, Khraifi questioned the union’s statement and its role in the talks.

“Who gave the UGTT such power to decide on behalf of everyone else?” asked Khraifi.

The Workers Party, and potentially the Popular Front, will not join the first session of talks, unless circumstances are “clearer and more serious,” he said.

Hamem Sayala: Bus Accident with No Fatalities

Bus Accident: No fatalities

Friday, 5 September, another major bus accident in the news: A civil bus went off the road in Hamem Sayala (3 km from Beja on Route P6 ) overnight and ended up on its side in a valley. There is a sense of relief that no deadly injury are confirmed, the most recent account says 7 of the 32 people aboard were taken to the closest hospital "Beja Regional Hospital", though the head Doctor "Dr. Abdallah Manai" says none of the injuries are life-threatening. Two people, including the driver, had to be cut from the wreck by firefighters. The bus went off Route P6 just before 7am en route from Jendouba to Tunis. Police say it hit a car before the driver loose control of the wheel to hit another incomming truck till the overturning straight to the valley, even so the accident is under investigation.
Arwa Rmadi contributed reporting.

Tunisia’s Assembly to Reconvene Next Week

The National Constituent Assembly Chamber

Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly (NCA) will restart plenary sessions next week without the withdrawn members and will not discuss the constitution, according to a statement by Speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar on Wednesday.

The NCA would not discuss the constitution before the withdrawn members return to the assembly, Ben Jaafar said in an interview with radio station Mosaique FM on Thursday. A number of opposition members withdrew after the assassination of Mohammed Brahmi in late July.

Members of internal and special committees have already met this week to set the assembly’s agenda. 

Withdrawn members were expressed incredulity at Ben Jafaar’s announcement.

“We do not understand Ben Jaafar’s position,” Rim Mahjoub of Afek Tounes said.

“He suspended the assembly’s activities and said that they will only resume if the national dialogue is launched, which is not the case.”

Ennahdha members welcomed the decision.

Reconvening “is a stimulus for all the parties, especially those who are really sincere in approaching elections,” said Amal Azouz.

“We’re not talking about those on the extremes…but a majority of the parties within the NCA are willing to resume work in and resume negotiations.”

In the interview with Mosaique FM, Ben Jaafar said that NCA members will discuss “pressing issues” in next week’s plenary sessions.

Opposition members gave no sign of rejoining the assembly.

“Everything that happens in the assembly is worthless to us,” Mahjoub said.

“The assembly is paralyzed. They want to divert the people by showing them that the NCA is working, it’s a manipulation of the people.”

The NCA has enough remaining members to reach quorum, allowing it to legally ratify and pass draft laws and even the draft constitution without the withdrawn members.

Both Azouz and Mahjoub, however, think such a scenario is unlikely.

Mahjoub stated that, though ratifying the constitution without the withdrawn members “can happen legally, it’s not possible politically.”

Azouz insisted Ennahdha does not think the matter “is a question of numbers.”

“We have almost 160 members in the NCA,” she continued, “but we need to ratify this constitution along with the opposition members, otherwise it has no meaning.”

The NCA has 216 members, minus the late Mohamed Brahmi.

“Those who are outside have to come back,” said Azouz. “We will continue to make efforts to have them come back. Otherwise we are at an impasse.”

Asma Smadhi contributed reporting.

Tunisians Respond to Violence in Egypt’s Rabaa and Al-Nahda Squares

Bodies of Morsi supporters killed in previous clashes with security forces in Cairo, July 27, 2013. Photo credit: By VOA, via Wikimedia Commons.

Deadly clashes between pro-Morsi protesters and Egyptian security forces Wednesday solicited reactions from Tunisians, who have watched events in Egypt closely during their own political crisis.

Hundreds were reported dead and thousands injured after Egyptian army and security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition on protesters in Rabaa and al-Nahda squares in Cairo. The violence is the latest since the ousting of former President Mohamed Morsi in early July.

Wednesday’s bloodshed followed repeated orders from Egypt’s security forces for protesters to clear both squares, sites of pro-Morsi protests since his removal from power.

Since their respective revolutions in 2011, political analysts have attempted to draw comparisons between Egypt and Tunisia. Tunisian politicians have openly wondered of an “Egyptian scenario” in their country. 

Morsi was removed by the Egyptian military following days of protests led by the Egyptian Tamarod movement. Shortly after, a similar movement appeared in Tunisia, calling for the dissolution of the country’s National Constituent Assembly (NCA) and government. Their demands were bolstered by politicians, civil society members, and activists after the July 25 assassination of opposition NCA member Mohamed Brahmi.

For the past three weeks Tunisia has witnessed pro- and anti-government protests that share language with the clashes occurring in Egypt and fall along a similar Islamist-secularist political divide.

Anti-government protesters demand a “national salvation government,” of nonpolitical experts replace the current NCA and government. Supporters of the government, however, claim democratic “legitimacy,” a word Morsi invoked to defend the rule of the former Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt.

Following the violence in Egypt on Wednesday, government and ruling three-party coalition members released statements reflecting the need for calm in the county.

“…What is happening in Egypt demonstrates the need for all political parties in Tunisia to sit at the negotiating table,” Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki told AFP.

He added that Tunisians should focus “on legitimacy and democracy to suppress the counter-revolution and refrain from rhetoric that urges Tunisians to confrontation.” 

In a party statement, Ennahdha called the killings a “crime against the people of Egypt and its revolution,” and called for international support of “the people’s struggle against the coup.”

The Ministry of Religious Affairs released a similar condemnation, calling the events a “massacre,” “crime against humanity,” and “deadly sin.”

“We express our unconditional support to peaceful protesters in all squares of Egypt and to their legitimate demands,” the statement continued. “We call on scholars of Islam in our country and others to react strongly and urgently in order to prevent division and to fight the criminals who cause this.”

“We call the Tunisian people to learn the lesson of what has happened in Egypt and to preserve what we are blessed with – stability and security – and to stand against anarchists and those seeking to topple the government,” it concluded.

One Tunisian pushed back against the politicians’ reactions on Twitter:

Recent events in #Egypt are sad and dramatic. But shame on #tngov to hijack and use them for political purposes. #Tunisia #Ennahdha #Egypte
— Kizotune (@Kizotune) August 14, 2013

Other Tunisian observers commented on the political tension between Islamists and secularists.

Tunisian journalist Sofiane Chourabi implied a double standard on the part of the Brotherhood.

“Islamists, who have always rejected universal principles of human rights using the pretext of local and religious specificities, are now asking human rights activists to side with them in what is happening in Egypt,” Chourabi wrote, adding “#PoliticalHypocrisy” to the end of his post.

“Ennahdha should learn a lesson from what is happening in Egypt,” Chourabi continued in a separate post.

Tunisian cyber activist Riadh El Hammi responded to such comments.

“What happened in Egypt since the dismissal of Morsi and the resumption of power by the military is unspeakable and is a true crime against humanity. The so-called democrats who justify it are no better than the worst obscurantist.”

Tunisian citizens called for a protest in front of the Egyptian embassy in Tunis to begin at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Farah Samti contributed reporting.