The chairman of the Tunisian Parliament’s finance committee called on the head of state in a statement to Shems FM radio to introduce emergency measures in accordance with article 80 of the Constitution, to resolve the situation of blockage of the country which “is facing imminent peril”.
During a passage Friday, November 27 on the airwaves of radio Shems FM, the chairman of the finance committee of the Tunisian Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP), Haykel Mekki, sounded the alarm about the situation of institutional blockage in which the Tunisian state finds itself.
In full discussion at the ARP on the complementary finance bill for the year 2020, the deputy noted serious dysfunctions in the relationship between the Ministry of Finance and the Tunisian central bank which compromise the chances of financing urgent needs of the country, hit hard by the economic, social and health crisis. Thus, Mekki called on President Kaïs Saied to activate Article 80 of the Constitution, which allows emergency measures to be taken under his authority to deal with this situation. According to him, the government of Hichem Mechichi “is not fit to run the country”.
“Tunisia faces imminent peril due to the blockage and deterioration of state institutions,” said the parliamentarian, calling on the head of state “to activate article 80 of the constitution”.
This article provides that in the event of an imminent danger threatening the institutions of the nation and the security, the independence of the country and hindering the regular functioning of the public authorities, the President of the Republic may take the measures imposed by this exceptional situation, after consultation with the Head of Government and the President of the Assembly of People’s Representatives and after having informed the President of the Constitutional Court thereof.
“The power station refuses to finance the state budget”
While Tunisia, in the midst of the crisis due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on its economy, in particular the tourism sector which is the most important source of foreign currency in the country, according to Mekki, the commission of ARP finances asked the government to use unconventional financing to deal with the country’s health and social situation, which the Tunisian central bank categorically refuses to do.
“The central bank refuses to finance the state budget,” he said, stressing that there “is no coordination between it and the finance ministry.” In the same sense, he was surprised “by the insistence of certain deputies to ask the question of strengthening the independence of the central bank and the privatization of certain public companies during the debate on the complementary finance law, whereas Tunisia above all needs solutions to the current emergency ”.
While recalling that Tunisia is a social state par excellence, Haykel Mekki explained that “the economic policy proposed by the Mechichi government in its budget bill for the year 2021 is a fantasy”. “The project contains beautiful promises without explaining by what means they will be financed and without detailing the related action plans”, he specified, affirming that “the government which is under the influence of certain political currents does not was not fit to lead the country ”.
In June, during an interview with L’Économiste Maghrébin, the Minister of Industry and SMEs Salah Ben Youssef declared that “the impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic will be further assessed in the next six months”, noting that the prospective studies predicted a decline in growth of 6.8% instead of the 4.6% previously announced. And “it could be more,” he warned. The minister also warned that around “270,000 jobs” were at risk due to the large number of businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis.
