The leader of the UGTT, Tunisia’s main trade union organization Noureddine Taboubi on Monday questioned the negotiations underway for months between the government and the IMF for a new loan intended to bail out the coffers of the over-indebted country.
During his speech in Tunis, more than 2,000 activists marched through Sfax, the country’s second city, with placards denouncing “an IMF government” and saying “no to colonization”.
“I confirm the full support of the UGTT and all its militants for the victims of this abusive attack, whether they are those who are in prison or under arrest, such as Anis Kaabi (senior official of the UGTT for road workers) and Naceur Ben Amara (general secretary of the union of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, editor’s note).The imprisonment of UGTT activists, the falsification of files by certain ministers opposed to the trade union movement, the launch smear campaigns and lies and the harassment of trade unionists will not scare us”.
Despite an agreement in principle from the Monetary Fund on this loan in mid-October, the talks have stalled for months, for lack of a firm commitment from President Saied to restructure a hundred heavily loss-making public groups and lift subsidies on various basic products. .
According to Mr. Taboubi, Mr. Saied “has aligned himself” with the UGTT, which is opposed to any sale of public companies and the lifting of subsidies. “This makes us wonder about the value of negotiations between the government and the IMF ,” he said.
The measures recommended by the IMF will “further impoverish the Tunisian people” who are facing high inflation (more than 10%) and high unemployment (more than 15%), according to Mr. Taboubi.
In a virulent press release a few days ago, the UGTT noted “glaring differences” between Kais Saied and his government, accusing Prime Minister Najla Bouden of “secretly” negotiating with the IMF a program “known to a small team , accustomed to adopting ready-made recipes”.
The union had lambasted “international donors who seek such opportunities to dictate their terms and dominate the economies of countries in crisis like Tunisia”.
In his speech on Monday, Mr. Taboubi
He cited two of them, the last of whom was imprisoned on Friday for a publication on social networks , considered to be harmful to the person of Kais Saied .
“The imprisonment of UGTT activists, the falsification of files by certain ministers who oppose the trade union movement, the launching of campaigns of denigration and contempt and the harassment of trade unionists do not scare us!” he said.
