Tunisia: freedom of movement guaranteed, says president 

Tunisian President Kais Saied said on Monday that freedom of movement is “guaranteed” for all Tunisians, and insisted that there is no intention to prejudice this right, Anadolu has reported. A travel ban, he added, only applies to wanted persons and those involved in legal cases.

Saied made his comment during a visit to Tunis-Carthage International Airport, where he “examined the progress of work, reviewed the conditions in which travel procedures are carried out, and listened to the observations and suggestions of a number of citizens.”

He described the “exceptional measures” that he took in July to assume executive control of Tunisia as “precautionary” and said that it “pained” him to do so. “Some politicians should wait and understand the reason for adopting these measures,” the president added.

A clear political divide has opened up in the country since Saied made his move, which has been called a “coup against the constitution” by a number of parties and politicians. Others have said that it was the only way to “correct the course” of the revolution in light of ongoing political, economic, and health crises, including the coronavirus pandemic.

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On 9 August, Mohsen El-Dali, spokesman of Tunisia’s Financial and Judicial Office, announced that a judge had decided to impose a travel ban on 12 officials, including a former minister and an MP, due to suspicions of corruption in the transfer and extraction of phosphate.

It was in this context that Saied referred to “wanted persons” and others appearing before the courts. “We will not hesitate to recover Tunisia’s rights and funds looted abroad at the hands of those who are known to the public as ‘businessmen’.”

In closing, the president said that the government will be formed in the near future. “The situation will go smoothly, as an expression of the will of the Tunisian people.”

Is Tunisia slipping into a dangerous pitfall?- Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]