The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) denounced the government policies, which led to the indebtedness of people, the increase in poverty, and unemployment, which threatens their livelihood strength and daily life, as well as, their future and their children’s lives. It called for an urgent plan to stop the rising of prices and compensate for the deterioration of the purchasing power, as well as to increase in the minimum wage, the retirees’ pension and dues.
The general union expressed its support for any legitimate peaceful movement and calls for the protection of the citizens’ interests during the protests, recalling that the trade union right is constitutionally guaranteed, including the right to strike, and that demonization of these movements and strikes reflect only a deep nostalgia for dictatorship.
The union condemned in a statement issued yesterday the policy of repression used against the peaceful protests, stating that it is an evidence for the failure of policies and the inability to solve the people’s issues. Moreover, it is a sign of the return of tyranny and dictatorship, stressing that the upcoming elections should be an opportunity to sort out and choose those who have social and economic programs and projects, that would meet the people’s interests, defend the national sovereignty and establish a state of law, justice and equity.
It also stated that the continuation of this tension created by the government, does not help in the success of the elections and does not guarantee the elections’ transparency and integrity. It stressed that ensuring the transparency of the elections is not subject to the charters, the constitution, the implementation of the law, the guarantee for the independence of the constitutional bodies, the completion of what has not yet been accomplished, the prevention of illegal and suspicious funding and the consolidation of the neutrality of mosques, administration and other state institutions, as well as other constitutional guarantees.
The general union considered that the repression rate of the peaceful popular protests is increasing, as it was the case in the town of Sidi Bouali. There are numerous unfair trials of youth who rejected the policies of impoverishment, starvation and marginalization of the ruling coalition, which is preoccupied with the with the early elections’ campaigns instead of the Tunisians’ problems. In fact, while smugglers and monopolists are becoming more powerful than the public, the prices go very high, there is lack of goods are missing, as well as the absence of transparency and social justice. At the same time, some media are smearing the pervasive social movement though the spread of fake information to provoke repression and the return of tyranny.
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