Category: Politics

The examining magistrate of the Judicial Economic and Financial Division decided on Monday evening to "detain without interrogation" former Transport Minister Abdelkrim Harouni and two former officials of state-owned companies, Moncef Mattoussi and Habib Mallouah. The decision was taken in connection with a matter relating to the period when Harouni held the transport portfolio, from December 2011 to January 2014, lawyer Samir Dilou told TAP. Dilou noted that the questioning did not take place, but declined to comment further. Former Industry Minister Mohamed Amine Chakhari (in office from December 2011 to March 2013) and former Transport Minister Salem Miladi (in office from 1 July 2011 to 24 December 2011) were kept at liberty, lawyer Dilou said. Abdelkrim Harouni, President of the Choura Council of the Ennahdha movement, was placed under house arrest on September 5 and arrested a few days later. Despite numerous attempts, TAP news agency was unable to obtain any further information on the case from offici als at the Judicial Economic and Financial Division by 7pm.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Nabil Ammar, met on Monday evening at the ministry's headquarters with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy and Special Representative of the Secretary General for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Javier Colomina. The meeting discussed the reality and prospects of partnership and cooperation relations between Tunisia and NATO at the bilateral and regional levels, and ways to ensure their further development. It provided an opportunity to exchange views on regional and international issues of common interest, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Calomina is paying a working visit to Tunisia from September 11 to 13, according to the same source. In May 2015, Tunisia obtained the status of "major non-NATO ally". The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was founded on April 4, 1949. It is an international alliance made up of 31 differ ent countries from Europe, North America and Asia.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The local elections scheduled for December 17 will be different at several levels, notably the voting system, the composition of local councils and their link with regional councils in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 10 dated March 8, 2023 on the organisation of local council elections and the composition of regional and district councils, said Head of the Independent Higher Authority for the Elections (ISIE) Farouk Bouasker. These elections will be different on many levels, including the voting method, composition of the local councils and their relationship with the regional councils, as defined in Decree No.10 of March 8, 2023 on the elections of local councils and the composition of the councils of regions and districts. Speaking at the opening of a training session organised for the benefit of Tunis Afrique Press (TAP) journalists, Bouaskar pointed out that the local elections are the first stage in a long electoral process to put in place the tools of the local government system, to be followed by establishment of regional councils in 24 governorates then district councils, until the establishment of a second parliamentary chamber, namely the national council of regions and districts. //Awareness campaign ahead of the elections// Given the importance of these elections, which will be held in 2155 local constituencies spread over 2085 Imadas, the ISIE decided to create the post of local coordinator and a deputy to represent the authority in the delegations, who will supervise the electoral operation in the relevant Imadas, in addition to increasing the number of electoral campaign monitors. Bouaskar explained that the ISIE is logistically ready to organise these elections without additional polling stations, the number of which has reached 5,000 centres comprising around 11,000 polling stations, adding that the authority had launched an awareness-raising campaign on the specific nature and importance of these elections in order to encourage citizens to take part, and had decided to speed up the pace of this campaign in collaboration with the public media. The ISIE is awaiting the publication of two presidential decrees: The first on calling voters to the polls and the second on the delimitation of electoral constituencies, and on filling the vacancy on the ISIE Council (3 posts), before September 17, to officially announce the start of the local elections, which will be held in 279 delegations to elect 279 local councils. Member of the ISIE Council and judge at the Court of Auditors Mahmoud El Waer pointed out that the budget allocated to the elections is included in the 2023 budget, specifying that the cost of each round is around TND 40 million. //Local elections, the foundation of the electoral process// Bouaskar indicated that Law 87, dated July 26, 1994, provides for the organisation of the work of local councils and their prerogatives, adding that these councils had not previously been elected and had only a consultative role. //New features regarding nominations and composition// Legislative decree no. 10 of 2023 includes a number of new features, notably the voting system, which will be free, comprehensive, direct and secret, with two rounds, as well as positive discrimination for the benefit of people with disabilities. He explained that the regional councils will be made up of members of local councils chosen by lot, adding that the composition of these councils will change every three months, allowing each member to take part in the work of the regional councils with a view to ensuring fair representation of all delegations. ISIE Central Director of Legal Affairs Imad Abdelli said that the new legal text governing local elections included the provision that candidates must not hold a second nationality in addition to their Tunisian nationality, and must not have been the subject of a decision against them by the Court of Auditors relating to financial or electoral violations, or have been subject to provisions relating to public funding. He also indicated that the presidency of the local council will be ensured on an alternating basis through a mechanism of drawing lots every three months, stressing that one of the positive points of this legal text is that the presidency of the regional council will be ensured in turn between the delegations, which means that each Imada has the same chances of leading the local council, and each small delegation has the same chances of leading the regional council.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Mr Abdul Samad Nurudeen, the Bono Regional Secretary of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), has cautioned the leaderships of the two major political parties to stay aside and allow the Party to resolve its internal problems. He said the seeming interference of the leaderships of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was fueling disunity, thereby worsening the state of the party. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani on the readiness of the PNC for Election 2024, Mr Nurudeen said, 'the NPP and NDC are exacerbating our problem of disunity and they must stay away.' Mr. Nurudeen expressed worry about what he described as the growing trend of discord within the rank and file of the PNC, saying 'the PNC is currently grappling with internal strife, tearing the Party apart.' 'This growing trend of disunity is giving me sleepless nights because some of us have indeed suffered a lot for the Party,' he stated. Concerning election 2024, Mr Nurudeen said the PNC leadership required 'independent-minded and selfless people who cannot be influenced by the NPP and the NDC,' saying the Party needed absolute unity and formidable force to make significant inroads in the next general election. He, therefore, appealed to the current leadership of the Party to bury their differences, identify and tackle internal and other emerging challenges confronting the Party. Mr Nurudeen emphasised that the PNC still had a strong base in some of the regions but added 'until we do our home work well we can't make any significant impact in election 2024.'

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr. Mohmmed Amin, Minister of State in Charge of Finance, says recent political unrest in the region is damaging efforts to tackle climate change on the African continent. He stressed the need for Africa's political climate to remain stable to achieve policy consistency in tackling the challenges associated with climate change. Dr Amin made the remarks during the 2023 African Climate Conference, which was held in Nairobi, Kenya. To promote the continent's quest for investment funding, Mr. Anim emphasised the importance of policy consistency. To buttress his point, he indicated that, regardless of how solid the structural and political reforms were, conflicts and political instability in one nation might have detrimental spillover effects on nearby countries. He advised the countries that the moment had come for Africa to guard itself against acts that threatened regional stability and collaboration. Thus, he encouraged them to capitalise on its enormous prospects for the benefit of the people on the continent. 'Overall, conflict in Africa can have far-reaching and complex consequences for international investment and regional economic development. It is critical for governments, corporations, and other stakeholders to collaborate in order to address the core causes of conflict and create stability, security, and prosperity,'' he said. Dr. Amin also advised the countries to explore high-level ratio instruments such as green bonds to raise significant financial resources for climate-related projects. The 2023 Africa Climate Summit is organised under the theme 'Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World.'' The meeting has been called to address Africa's growing vulnerability to climate change and the costs required to deal with the problem. He called for capacity building among African nations in the area of green bonds as some countries lacked the experts to effectively structure and issue instruments. ''Again, there is a need for standardised frameworks and certification processes that instil confidence in investors. Harmonising these standards at a regional level could facilitate cross-border investment and boost investor confidence,'' he noted. According to him, the V20 is facing several challenges, particularly accessing capital, the underrepresentation of climate-vulnerable countries in global governance, and international trade mitigations. He said the countries on the continent want to achieve climate prosperity, so a comprehensive global financial framework is essential. To achieve this goal, he advocated for a worldwide financial reform agenda in which multilateral development institutions, particularly those working on the continent, would increase their resources for climate-related operations. This financing, he said, would enable regional institutions strategies to work effectively to address climate change. ''Another way to address the challenge of creating fiscal space for climate action is for the global system to move away from austerity measures while accounting for the impact of climate change on debt financing,'' he advised. He stated that countries facing climate vulnerability were more likely to suffer from serious debt. To address this challenge, he underscored the importance of conducting debt sustainability analysis for these countries to provide financial liquidity for such countries in the region. He called for collaborations between advanced countries and climate-vulnerable countries instead of rejecting products from Africa due to their high carbon content.

Source: Ghana News Agency