Prime Minister Habib Essid decided, as he chaired a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, to dissolve 28 municipal councils and replace them by special delegations, through the adoption of 28 decrees.
Several MPs, on Tuesday, emphasised the need to strengthen the legislative role of the parliament and its control during the coming period in the national effort to fight against terrorism and facilitate the action of security institutions and the army.
"The fight against terrorism is a shared responsibility between state institutions and all the components of society," members of the House of People's Representatives (HPR) argued at a press conference held by the Committee of Administrative Affairs and Security Forces and the Committee of Security and Defence at the HPR.
President Beji Caid Essebsi reiterated his commitment not to promulgate any law contrary to the principles set out in the Tunisian constitution.
At his meeting, Wednesday, with a delegation of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), led by its President Karim Lahidji, Caid Essebsi pledged to strengthen and promote human rights in Tunisia.
Receiving, Monday, several political party leaders, Prime Minister Habib Essid called for national unity preservation, away from any tight calculation.
“Though we guarantee the right to protest peacefully, we no longer tolerate ongoing attacks against the institutions of sovereignty and public properties and attempts to make chaos prevail,” he pointed out, referring to the attack against the police and torching institutions of sovereignty and police stations.
Speaker of the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) Mohamed Ennaceur said, Tuesday, amendments will be made to the draft law banning attacks on armed forces.
“The bill will be amended to ensure compliance with the respect for rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the new constitution,” Mr. Ennaceur stated at a meeting with a delegation of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) headed by Kamel Lahidji.
President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Kamel Lahidji expressed rejection of the death sentence provided for in the draft law on the fight against terrorism and money laundering.
Speaking after his meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Habib Essid, he emphasised the importance of complying with the provisions of Tunisia's new constitution and its international commitments.
The meeting with the PM was an opportunity to discuss issues related to Tunisian women's conditions, equality, freedom of expression and conscience and socio-economic rights.
"Despite challenges, we are determined to carry out necessary reforms in accordance with a clear and well-defined timetable," President Béji Caid Essebsi said in his speech on the second day of the G7 Summit currently held in Germany.
Addressing guests of this 41st Summit, the President shed light on the strides made by the country on the pathway to democracy since the Deauville Summit and the challenges confronting it, particularly unemployment and terrorism.
The organic law on the creation of the Supreme Judicial Council (French: CSM) was declared "unconstitutional" by the provisional constitutional review authority on Monday.
A group of 28 MPs had submitted last May 22 an appeal of unconstitutionality against the draft law on the supreme judicial council.
Human Rights activists claim that Tunisia is facing a a torture ‘epidemic’ amid fears of a return to a Ben Ali- style police state.
The comments come after it emerged that The Tunisian Organization Against Torture (OCTT) is currently investigating almost 70 torture cases in 2015 with 23 claims submitted in the past month alone.
OCTT chief Mondher Cherni has hit out at the authorities over their ‘reluctance’ to investigate torture claims adequately and the human rights experts believes that Tunisia is at risk of once again becoming a police state.
The draft law on the creation of a national council of social dialogue was approved by the Cabinet meeting held, Wednesday, in the Government Palace in Kasbah, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Habib Essid.
Emrhod Consulting a dévoilé son baromètre politique du mois de mai 2015 effectué pour le compte du Temps, d’Assabah, de Mosaïque Fm et d’Al Watania. Cette enquête sur le bilan des 100 premiers jours du chef du gouvernement Habib Essid, réalisée entre les 12 et 15 mai, a visé un échantillon représentatif de la société tunisienne en âge de voter. 1060 personnes, dans les 24 gouvernorats du pays incluant les zones urbaines et rurales, ont été interrogées.
46,1% des Tunisiens
satisfaits du bilan des 100 premiers jours
de Habib Essid
The Tunis Declaration, published at the end of the 5th Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy held from May 14 to 17 in Tunis, calls for the establishment in Tunisia of decentralisation of power through the promotion of participatory democracy.
Dans une conférence de presse organisée hier par l’Association des magistrats tunisiens, Raoudha Karafi a mis en exergue les difficultés par lesquelles passe le pouvoir judicaire en passe de devenir sous l’autorité de l’exécutif.
Seven judicial structures, on Saturday, called on the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and MPs who support the independence of the judiciary to recognise the unconstitutionality of the draft law on the Supreme Judicial Council (French: CSM).
“Provisions of the constitution and the rule of law must be respected,” they stressed, calling on the President of the Republic not to promulgate the law.
Two out of three Tunisians are opposed to religious freedom, according to a study.
The poll by the Arab Institute for Human Rights found that just 33 percent of respondents in Tunisia support the right to freedom of belief.
Meanwhile just under one in three agree with the principle of religious conversion. Worryingly the report shows that 54 percent of Tunisians look down upon members of the Shiite Islamic sect.
The study spells bad news for those hoping to openly practice minority religions in the post-revolution state.
Participants in the conference organised, Wednesday in Tunis, on local power, unanimously pointed out the urgency of starting as soon as possible to review the laws in force and which are in total contradiction with Chapter 7 of the Constitution on the local power, before the organisation of municipal and regional elections.
The parliament will exercise in the coming period, its right of legislative initiative to set up the constitutional commissions within the deadlines, House of People’s Representatives (HPR) Speaker Mohamed Ennaceur said. Opening, Tuesday, the plenary session devoted to the examination of the draft law on the creation of the High Council of the Judiciary (French: CSM), Ennaceur pointed out that after having finished off the executive power foundations, the HPR will work as of Tuesday, on the components of the judiciary power through the establishment of the CSM.
La fixation sur les cent premiers jours du Gouvernement– une pratique courante dans les démocraties européennes- sied mal à la démocratie tunisienne qui est à ses premiers pas, si ce n’est qu’elle est encore embryonnaire, comme le pensent plusieurs observateurs avertis.
Durant l’ancien régime il n’y avait pas de possibilité pour le citoyen de soulever l’inconstitutionnalité d’une loi ou d’un décret-loi , ni par voie d’action , ni par voie d’exception, c’est-à-dire à l’occasion d’une affaire judiciaire quelconque. Le Conseil constitutionnel n’avait qu’un rôle consultatif.
Or, parmi les acquis de la Révolution, la création d’une Cour constitutionnelle.
