Tunisia’s labour union slams president's 'e-platform' 

The Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labour Union, Noureddine Taboubi, yesterday criticised an electronic platform which was launched by President Kais Saied, describing it as “useless and does not replace dialogue.”

His remarks came at a press conference held in the northeastern city of Hammamet.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Communication launched an electronic poll to collect citizens’ opinions on various political, social and economic issues. Saied had ordered that the initiative be set up.

“The platform does not replace popular dialogue, and the Tunisian people are not all tech-savvys,” Taboubi stressed.

Saied has held nearly total power since 25 July when he sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority citing a national emergency.

READ: Saied is taking Tunisia back to the era of secret prisons, opposition says

He appointed a prime minister on 29 September and a government has since been formed. Last month, Saied announced that a referendum will be held on 25 July to consider ‘constitutional reforms’ and elections would follow in December 2022.

The majority of the country’s political parties slammed the move as a “coup against the constitution” and the achievements of the 2011 revolution. Critics say Saied’s decisions have strengthened the powers of the presidency at the expense of parliament and the government, and that he aims to transform the country’s government into a presidential system.

On more than one occasion, Saied, who began a five-year presidential term in 2019, said that his exceptional decisions are not a coup, but rather measures within the framework of the constitution to protect the state from “imminent danger”.