Tunisian FM Al-Jarandi: “Democracy is a choice that stems from the will of the people and is irreversible”
Tunisian FM Othman Al-Grandi affirmed, on Tuesday, that “democracy in Tunisia is a choice that stems from the will of the people and is irreversible.”
This came during a working session that brought together Al-Jarandi at the headquarters of the Tunisian Foreign Ministry with a delegation from the European Parliament, which will pay a three-day visit to Tunisia, which started on Monday, according to a statement by the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was published on Tuesday evening, on its Facebook page.
Al-Jarandi said: “The democratic choice in Tunisia is a choice that stems from the will of the people and is irreversible,” according to what was stated in the statement.
He added that “the constitutional and political reforms are part of a vision that establishes a real and sustainable democracy that lives up to the aspirations of the Tunisian people.”
Grandi highlighted Tunisia’s determination “to move forward with the implementation of political reforms within the framework of a participatory process, the first phase of which began with a national consultation, followed by a series of meetings held by the President of the Republic with the most important social and economic actors and civil society.”
Al-Jarandi indicated that “democracy also requires economic and social stability,” referring to the “repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on the Tunisian economy.”
Al-Jarandi stressed that the president’s meetings with the actors “will continue successively during the coming period within the scope of constructive consultations on the upcoming stages and in accordance with the national interest.”
For their part, the European MPs expressed “the great importance that the European Parliament attaches to relations with Tunisia and their interest in the Tunisian democratic experience.”
The European Parliamentarians affirmed, “their aspiration to support this experiment (Tunisian democracy) and to continue accompanying it away from interference in Tunisian internal affairs or the logic of guardianship, stressing the need to continue the consultations conducted by the President of the Republic with the various political and social parties within the scope of a more comprehensive participatory guarantee of the process.” reformist.”
Tunisia has witnessed, since July 25, 2021, a political crisis when Said began imposing exceptional measures, including: dissolving Parliament and the Judicial Council, issuing legislation by presidential decrees, and early parliamentary elections to December 17, 2022.
Tunisian forces consider these measures a “coup against the constitution”, while other forces see them as a “correction of the course of the 2011 revolution”, which overthrew then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
As for Saeed, who began in 2019 a 5-year presidential term, he said that his measures are “measures within the framework of the constitution to protect the country from an imminent danger.”
