[ad_1]
The Tunisian government has declared seven days of mourning following the death of Beji Caid Essebsi, the first president of the country to be democratically elected, while condolences from the region and elsewhere have come forward.
During a ceremony a few hours after the death of the 92-year-old ruler Thursday, Mohamed Ennaceur, the head of parliament, was sworn in as interim president.
Ennaceur, 85, will lead the country until the presidential elections on September 15, according to the Independent Electoral Commission. The presidential vote was initially scheduled for 17 November.
Prime Minister Youssef Chahed declared a seven-day mourning period and ordered flags of state institutions to be half-masted.
The state news agency TAP announced that cultural and sports events had been suspended in the country until further notice.
Transition to democracy
One of the oldest leaders in the world, Essebsi died Thursday morning at the military hospital in Tunis, where he had been taken the night before. It was the third time in recent weeks that he was hospitalized.
His funeral is scheduled for Saturday.
Essebsi was seen as a unifying figure, but was ultimately unable to bring lasting prosperity or calm to a country plagued by economic crises and the defense of sporadic murderous attacks.
Appointed prime minister in 2011 after the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's reign, the long-time leader of the so-called Arab Spring uprising, Essebsi was elected president three years later, becoming the first head of state. directly elected from the country after his uprising.
As Prime Minister, he contributed to the drafting of a new democratic constitution guaranteeing fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and preparing Tunisia for free elections.
He also co-negotiated a historic power-sharing deal between his Nidaa Tounes movement and the Islamist Ennahda party, which helped stabilize the country, while other parts of the region such as Syria, Yemen or Libya fought against upheaval and violence.
In recognition of their role, Tunisian civil society groups received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015.
Although Tunisia remained a democratic exception in a troubled region, critics accused Essebsi of attempting to cede his dynastic son, renouncing certain post-revolutionary freedoms and failing to support a truth commission seeking justice. for the victims of the authoritarian regime.
Essebsi recently announced that he would not run in the elections scheduled for November, saying that a younger person should run the country.
Vacuum
Concerns had been expressed about a possible power vacuum in Tunisia ahead of the November elections that followed the president's admission to the hospital.
The Tunisian constitution, adopted in 2014, provides for two measures in such a case.
The Prime Minister can badume the responsibilities of the President for a maximum period of 60 days. If the vacancy is longer, the Speaker of Parliament is responsible for this role for up to 90 days.
In either case, the decision must be made by a constitutional court after validating the incapacity of the president.
However, eight years after the Arab Spring, Tunisia has still not established a constitutional court, which raises questions about the legitimacy of Enneatre to the presidency.
"The president has been sick for almost a month now, so in recent weeks there has been a lot of talk in the corridors of the presidency, the parliament, the prime minister's office to find a way to not have a constitutional court " Youssef Cherif, Deputy Director of Columbia Global Centers, said of Tunis.
Legislative elections are scheduled for 6 October. This will be the third round of polls during which Tunisians were able to vote freely after the 2011 revolution.
Sami Hamdi, editor-in-chief of UK-based UK-based International Interest magazine, commented on Essebsi's legacy: "Tunisia is still doing much better than Libya, Syria and others, in the UK. In the sense that it avoided the war, it is not to deny that Tunisia is going through a very serious economic crisis, there are still incredible divisions between clbades and poverty. "
The unemployment rate in Tunisia is about 15%, up from 12% in 2010, due to weak growth and low investment.
Tunisia has been spared much of the violence seen elsewhere in the Middle East since 2011, although it has been targeted by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIL). over the years.
"We have seen the return of pressure groups, commercial interests and foreign interventions," Hamdi said. "Nevertheless, we still think that in 2019, all hope is not lost, that there is still some kind of democratic process."
International reaction
Messages from condolences paid after the announcement of the death of Essebsi. Chahed, the prime minister, said the late president had "a central role in the success of the democratic transition."
Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist Ennahda movement, expressed sorrow after Essebsi's death, saying he had contributed significantly to the construction of the state.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also offered his condolences.
"I wish Allah's mercy on him and offer my condolences to the Tunisian brotherly people of Tunisia," Erdogan said in a statement, adding that the dead president will always be remembered with respect.
French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Essebsi as "the courageous leader who presided over his country at a crucial moment in its history".
The deceased president had "resisted all forms of obscurantism to build the future, democracy and progress," Macron said in a statement.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, on Twitter, greeted Essebsi as "a man and a man with great political experience and great humanity, who served his country all his life" and expressed "his sincere condolences to his family and to all of Tunisia".
Tunisia has lost one of its most "competent" and "brave" leaders, said Federica Mogherini, EU foreign policy chief, in a statement.
[ad_2]
Source link
