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Tunisia opposition: Kais Saied pledged the country's sovereignty to the IMF

September 6, 2022 at 10:58 am

Tunisian President Kais Saied attends the celebration the anniversary of Algeria’s independence in Algiers, Algeria on July 05, 2022. Algeria celebrates 60 years of independence from France [Algerian Presidency – Anadolu Agency]

The Tunisian opposition accused President Kais Saied of pledging the country’s sovereignty to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and attempting to involve Tunisia in regional conflicts, in reference to his recent reception of the leader of the Polisario Front, Ibrahim Ghali, which caused a diplomatic crisis with Morocco.

The Workers’ Party, the Republican Party, the Democratic Modernist Pole, the Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties and the Democratic Current issued a joint statement yesterday in which they warned that the country is expected to witness “a crisis that contains all dangers including disruption of civil peace. In addition to the traditional elements of our country’s long-standing economic crisis, today Tunisia is facing an almost total collapse in the production system in more than one field and sector and a terrible decline in savings. Consequently, this leads to the absence of investment, the economic shortfall to create wealth and job opportunities, and the increase in the need of importing most of what is needed by citizens. As a result, the public financial balances were disrupted, and the public debt ratio increased to more than 100 per cent of GDP, an unprecedented rate in Tunisia’s history.”

“Moreover, the state budget deficit and trade balance deficit have increased to dangerous rates which caused the country to be threatened with the inability to pay its debts and to head towards bankruptcy.”

READ: Tunisia faces imminent ‘collapse’ and ‘chaos’, warn parties

The statement said that the vulnerable, poor and low-income groups are paying the bill for this crisis, “where the purchasing power of the general population has deteriorated, the unemployment and poverty rates have increased, the phenomenon of irregular immigration has risen including the immigration of entire families that comprises minor children as an expression of the hopelessness and the despair generated by this crisis.”

They warned that “these repercussions are likely to become more serious in light of the so-called ‘major reforms’ that are negotiated with the IMF.”

“The government of Kais Saied,” they said, “has proven its inability and incompetency to face these challenges.”