The Biden administration proposed on April 1 to cut US financial and military aid to Tunisia by almost half, “as the Tunisian leadership continues on the path of authoritarianism”, the Al-Monitor site has learned. based in Washington.
On March 31, the US State Department had already declared itself “deeply concerned” by the dissolution of the Tunisian Parliament and the bringing of the deputies to justice.
Washington’s annual budget now provides “only” $61 million in military and security assistance to Tunisia for next year’s fiscal year, compared to $112 million requested for this year, says Jared Szuba, author of this information.
The Biden administration unveiled an official document last week in which it formulates its projections for the year 2023, where no less than 3.2 billion dollars will be devoted to “the promotion of democracy and good governance” in the world.
“Slashed in half”, economic aid halved
This same budget also plans to reduce the State Department’s economic aid to Tunisia by $40 million, again a reduction of some 50% compared to this year’s request. Drastic reductions occur in the context of an unprecedented economic crisis where the government of Najla Bouden is already struggling to raise the funds necessary to honor the country’s debts, in particular to the IMF.
“The United States wishes to continue to support the Tunisian people and encourage the return to constitutional governance,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “ The reductions in economic and security assistance from the United States, compared to the requests of the previous year, reflect our serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding ”, he justifies.
The day before, two influential MPs, Michael McCaul (Republican – Texas) and Gregory Meeks (Democrat – New York), members of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Senators Jim Risch (Republican – Idaho) and Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a joint statement. They condemn what they describe as “President Saïed’s attempt to dissolve Parliament, which suggests a further deterioration of the rule of law.”
Financial retaliation
For the former American diplomat Gordon Gray, stationed in Tunis as an ambassador between 2009 and 2012,” The United States should not completely cut off its aid to Tunisia, however, we must be clear that any future borrowing will be conditional on the guarantee of a return to constitutional order”, in reference to ethical obligations.
In October 2021, President Kais Saïed had summoned the American ambassador Donald Blome (whose mission ends in a few days, appointed to Pakistan) to express to him “his dissatisfaction” about the holding of a virtual plenary of members of the American Congress devoted to the state of democracy in Tunisia. An episode that would not be foreign, in the opinion of several observers, to the current cold between the two countries, or to the fact that Anthony Blinken, on tour last Friday in the Maghreb, did not make the trip to Tunis.
If the bi-partisan (Democrats and Republicans) American proposals for financial reprisals, in the form of a warning, succeed in the coming days, it would be the first time that the United States has taken action in the Tunisian case. A passage to the act via what some call “ tacit sanctions ” at first, halfway between remonstrances and sanctions strictly speaking.
