The Tunisian League for Human Rights says it will participate in the national dialogue in Tunisia but sets "conditions"

MADRID, 24 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) has announced its decision to participate in the national dialogue called by the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, although it has stressed that it does so under "conditions", after the country's main trade union withdraw from the proposal.

The president of the organization, Yamel Msalem, has indicated that the LTDH "has decided to participate in the national dialogue, but with conditions", and has detailed that "it refuses to participate in a dialogue to approve predefined results".

Thus, he has highlighted that the decision has been adopted "due to the general crisis existing in the country" and has claimed to be part of the legal committee in charge of drafting the new Constitution proposed by Saied within the framework of his extraordinary measures since July 2021.

Msalem has also criticized the 21-day deadline set to conclude the dialogue, considering it insufficient, and has asked to extend it in order to broaden the bases and possible results, according to the Tunisian state news agency, TAP.

On Monday, the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) announced its refusal to participate in the national dialogue, arguing that it excludes other democratic forces and does not propose political or economic reforms, while calling a general strike to demand a increase in wages and protest against the scarcity of basic products.

Saied announced the dissolution of Parliament on March 30, eight months after its suspension in July 2021, when he also dissolved the Government to assume all powers. The president has promised a constitutional referendum for July 25, 2022 and elections for December 17. The 2014 Tunisian Constitution only allows Parliament to be suspended for 30 days, a period that has been far exceeded.

On the other hand, Saied announced last week the appointment of a sympathetic politician to chair a commission that will reform the 2014 Constitution, the result of a democratic agreement after the fall of the autocrat Zine el Abidine ben Ali in what is known as the 'Arab Spring' of 2011, a move equally criticized by the opposition.

Previously, he had announced a remodeling of the electoral commission, leaving the designation of the members of the body in his own hands and in those of a body that reports directly to him, in which the opposition gives an example of Saied's authoritarian drift.