The delicate balance between rights and duties
6 January 2015
Read by 1700 persons
Getting the country back to work. This is a motto repeated several times during the election campaign of the new President of the Republic, Beji Caid Essebsi. Beyond the slogan and the obvious aspect of this statement, this project risks encountering several obstacles, such as worker remuneration on the one hand, and the need to preserve and uphold rights on the other.
The Compagnie Phosphate-Gafsa (CPG) is one of Tunisia's largest public companies. Since the 2011 revolution, its production has been halted and then resumed at a slow but exponential rate. Three years later, the company has not yet returned to its cruising speed, and the loss of earnings directly impacts state finances. According to a recent TAP dispatch, CPG recorded a loss of 20 million dinars in 2014.
This loss of earnings, a consequence of a drop in production, is mainly due to social unrest affecting the company. These movements are led by company employees seeking improved working conditions and by unemployed people in the mining region seeking employment.
It must be said that since 2011, Tunisian workers in several sectors have staged numerous strikes. In both the public and private sectors, strikes have often been undertaken for legitimate reasons. However, the downside is that these strikes impact the performance of the public and private companies that are affected. The corollary is the weakening of accounts during a period when the Tunisian economy is faltering.
A well-informed source at the Prime Minister's office recently confided that the Tunisian executive was under pressure. Indeed, the team led by Mehdi Jomaa, like previous governments since the revolution, has had to face social movements and protests in various sectors such as energy, education, health, etc. The same source indicated that the strikes were literally suffocating the government. The high point of these protests was the UGTT's request to negotiate salary increases with the Jomaa government. The latter attempted to pass the hot potato to the government that would soon be appointed. However, the UGTT insisted on starting negotiations with the incumbent executive and succeeded.
On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that most union demands are justified. When the UGTT observes rising prices and the high cost of living, it can only demand salary increases for its members from the government. The next government will have to make distinctions and acknowledge that the social situation of a large segment of Tunisians continues to deteriorate. This is the observation that Beji Caid Essebsi himself made and repeatedly emphasized during his election campaign.
This is one of the main challenges facing the next executive, both government and presidency. How to get the country back to work, impose a certain discipline while preserving the revolutionary achievements and citizens' rights to protest, strike, and freedom of expression?
To achieve this balance, the next government will have to make a significant effort to be clear in its measures and decisions. This involves flawless communication capable of holding Tunisians accountable on the one hand and effectively "selling" measures and decisions that could provoke anger. The price increases expected soon will be a good example for determining the government's approach in this context.
The need to establish this balance can be extended to cover all areas, primarily that of rights. A segment of Tunisian society is expressing, more or less openly, concerns about the future of the rights acquired by Tunisians under the presidency of Beji Caid Essebsi.
Indeed, they fuel these concerns by suggesting that the new executive could establish a repressive order by justifying it precisely by the need to get the country back to work. This theme was widely used and exploited by Moncef Marzouki, the former president, during his election campaign. He repeatedly stated that Beji Caid Essebsi's party would be tempted by hegemony by holding the three presidencies: the presidency of the government, the presidency of the Republic, and the presidency of the ARP (Assembly of People's Representatives). The 1,400,000 people who voted for him in the second round of the presidential election largely share this fear.
The new government will have to face complex economic and security issues. It will have to do so while considering various parameters related to its relationship with the trade union center and civil society as a whole. The rights and revolutionary achievements will be fiercely defended by the people and civil society. The new government must have the necessary intelligence to avoid confrontation with these organizations.
Marouen Achouri.
Businessnews.com.tn
Published January 4, 2015.
Posted online January 6, 2015.
The Compagnie Phosphate-Gafsa (CPG) is one of Tunisia's largest public companies. Since the 2011 revolution, its production has been halted and then resumed at a slow but exponential rate. Three years later, the company has not yet returned to its cruising speed, and the loss of earnings directly impacts state finances. According to a recent TAP dispatch, CPG recorded a loss of 20 million dinars in 2014.
This loss of earnings, a consequence of a drop in production, is mainly due to social unrest affecting the company. These movements are led by company employees seeking improved working conditions and by unemployed people in the mining region seeking employment.
It must be said that since 2011, Tunisian workers in several sectors have staged numerous strikes. In both the public and private sectors, strikes have often been undertaken for legitimate reasons. However, the downside is that these strikes impact the performance of the public and private companies that are affected. The corollary is the weakening of accounts during a period when the Tunisian economy is faltering.
A well-informed source at the Prime Minister's office recently confided that the Tunisian executive was under pressure. Indeed, the team led by Mehdi Jomaa, like previous governments since the revolution, has had to face social movements and protests in various sectors such as energy, education, health, etc. The same source indicated that the strikes were literally suffocating the government. The high point of these protests was the UGTT's request to negotiate salary increases with the Jomaa government. The latter attempted to pass the hot potato to the government that would soon be appointed. However, the UGTT insisted on starting negotiations with the incumbent executive and succeeded.
On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that most union demands are justified. When the UGTT observes rising prices and the high cost of living, it can only demand salary increases for its members from the government. The next government will have to make distinctions and acknowledge that the social situation of a large segment of Tunisians continues to deteriorate. This is the observation that Beji Caid Essebsi himself made and repeatedly emphasized during his election campaign.
This is one of the main challenges facing the next executive, both government and presidency. How to get the country back to work, impose a certain discipline while preserving the revolutionary achievements and citizens' rights to protest, strike, and freedom of expression?
To achieve this balance, the next government will have to make a significant effort to be clear in its measures and decisions. This involves flawless communication capable of holding Tunisians accountable on the one hand and effectively "selling" measures and decisions that could provoke anger. The price increases expected soon will be a good example for determining the government's approach in this context.
The need to establish this balance can be extended to cover all areas, primarily that of rights. A segment of Tunisian society is expressing, more or less openly, concerns about the future of the rights acquired by Tunisians under the presidency of Beji Caid Essebsi.
Indeed, they fuel these concerns by suggesting that the new executive could establish a repressive order by justifying it precisely by the need to get the country back to work. This theme was widely used and exploited by Moncef Marzouki, the former president, during his election campaign. He repeatedly stated that Beji Caid Essebsi's party would be tempted by hegemony by holding the three presidencies: the presidency of the government, the presidency of the Republic, and the presidency of the ARP (Assembly of People's Representatives). The 1,400,000 people who voted for him in the second round of the presidential election largely share this fear.
The new government will have to face complex economic and security issues. It will have to do so while considering various parameters related to its relationship with the trade union center and civil society as a whole. The rights and revolutionary achievements will be fiercely defended by the people and civil society. The new government must have the necessary intelligence to avoid confrontation with these organizations.
Marouen Achouri.
Businessnews.com.tn
Published January 4, 2015.
Posted online January 6, 2015.
