Experts and family members of those arrested say the North African country is no more an Arab Spring success story.
London, England – After the Arab Spring protests in the early 2010s, Tunisia experienced a brief spell of democracy.
But that changed in July 2021 when President Kais Saied froze parliament and sacked the government in a dramatic move.
Since then, the North African country has seen an intense crackdown on opposition leaders, critics and activists.
Since February this year, more than 20 people – including opposition politicians, journalists and business figures – have been arrested under various charges such as “plotting against state security” and “terrorism”.
Among those arrested are Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist Ennahdha party, its member Said Ferjani, and prominent radio journalist Zied el-Heni, who many believe penned the term the “Jasmine Revolution”.
While freedom of speech and media were critical gains for Tunisians after the Arab Spring revolution led to the overthrow of then-leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, activists and journalists say those freedoms are threatened under Saied’s rule.
People wave national flags during celebrations marking the sixth anniversary of the 2011 Arab Spring revolution, in Tunis, Tunisia [File: Zoubeir Souissi/Reuters]
Speaking at a forum in London on post-Arab Spring Tunisia on Friday, Maha Azzam, head of the Egyptian revolutionary council, said, “Tunisians and Arabs have known nothing but tyranny for decades except for a short hiatus in the Arab Spring.”
Azzam said what is happening in Tunisia is not unlike other post-revolution countries where vested interests avoid political accountability by a regime of oppression.
“The Arab Spring was round one. It was an intifada if you like. It was an uprising, it was an incomplete revolution, but there will be other cycles like with other revolutions. It was peaceful, and I hope it will remain peaceful,” she said.
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Soumaya Ghannouchi, daughter of the jailed Ennahdha chief, said Saied “robbed the Tunisians of the hard-won freedoms”.
“You are hounded by your sick suspicions, your power, greed, your fear. Ghannouchi haunts you,” she said in a message to the Tunisian president. “Try as you may, you will never lock Ghannouchi away. You are the prisoner, not him.”
Soumaya added: “He [Saied] gave them [Tunisians] not only dictatorship but also poverty and state bankruptcy.”
Tunisia’s economic crisis has been worsened by stalled talks with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of $1.9bn. Without a loan, the country faces a severe payments crisis.
Ennahdha chief Rached Ghannouchi in Tunis [File: Hassene Dridi/AP Photo]
Opposition parties say Saied’s action against the opposition leaders is politically motivated as they call for the authorities to release political prisoners.
But Saied alleges those imprisoned were “terrorists, criminals and traitors”, and judges who free them would be endorsing their alleged crimes.
Kaouther Ferjani, daughter of jailed politician Said Ferjani, said when her family asked a judge why her father was in prison, the judge replied, “It was either me or him.”
“My father in prison said we have shifted from the independence of the judiciary to the use and abuse of the judiciary,” she said.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
