The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken said he was concerned about the seizure of full powers by Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed.
Tunisia must address concerns about its democratic system before it can claim badly needed international economic aid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday (28 April).
The head of American diplomacy, who was speaking before a committee of the House of Representatives, said he was concerned about the seizure of full powers by Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed and considered that Tunisia should “at the very least” hold out before the end of the year the promised parliamentary elections.
“I think the most important thing for them is that they make themselves fully eligible for assistance from international financial institutions,” he said. We have made it clear that our support is possible, but that we want to see Tunisia return to its path.
Tunisia began preliminary discussions in February with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), of which the United States is the main shareholder, in the hope of obtaining several billion dollars to save a heavily indebted economy, penalized by the inflation and endemic unemployment.
Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed, elected in 2019 before taking full powers in July, arrogated to himself on Friday, April 29 the right to appoint the head of the Electoral Authority, a few months before a referendum and a legislative ballot that this body must supervise.
The Biden administration recently hardened its criticism of Mr. Saïed, calling at the end of March for a rapid return to a “constitutional government” in this country, the cradle of the “Arab springs”.
