Tunisia orders expulsion for "interference" from the highest union official in the EU

 Tunis ordered the departure of Esther Lynch, the secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation. The latter is the highest union official in the European Union. The authorities give him 24 hours to leave Tunisia.

The Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed ordered on Saturday 18 February the expulsion of the highest union official in the European Union for statements described by Tunis as "gross interference", last episode of a showdown between President Said and the trade unionists.

"By order of President Kaïs Saïed, the Tunisian authorities ordered the departure of Esther Lynch", the secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation, indicated the presidency in a press release.

Esther Lynch "took part in a demonstration organized by the Tunisian General Labor Union ( UGTT ) and made comments which constitute a flagrant interference in the internal affairs of Tunisia", according to the press release. 

The authorities give her 24 hours to leave Tunisia where she is now considered "persona non grata", according to the same source.

"Solidarity" 

Earlier today, the European trade union official took part in a demonstration which brought together thousands of trade unionists in the city of Sfax ( center-east ), at the call of the powerful UGTT union center.

Come to bring the "solidarity on the part of 45 million workers in Europe", Esther Lynch addressed herself through an interpreter to the crowd gathered in this historic bastion of Tunisian trade unionism.

"We say to governments: don't touch our unions, free our leaders," she said. The Tunisian government must "sit down and negotiate with the UGTT to find a solution" in order to improve the current political and economic situation, she added.

UGTT spokesman Sami Tahri said on private radio Mosaic FM that Esther Lynch's Saturday statements were a "defense of the right to organize and not interference in the affairs of Tunisia". "We condemn ( its expulsion ), which brings no honor to Tunisia," he added.

La manifestation à Sfax samedi était organisée simultanément à de nombreuses autres dans plusieurs villes du pays afin de protester contre la dégradation de la situation économique et l'arrestation d'Anis Kaabi, responsable de la branche autoroutes de l'UGTT.

Ce dernier est en détention provisoire dans l'attente d'un procès fixé au 23 février, pour avoir lancé une grève sur les péages.

L'UGTT a annoncé des sit-in et rassemblements contre la politique de Kaïs Saïed, avec comme point culminant une marche à Tunis le 11 mars.

Grave crise politique et économique

La Tunisie est engluée dans une grave crise politique et économique depuis que Kaïs Saïed a accaparé les pouvoirs en juillet 2021 en limogeant le Premier ministre et en suspendant le Parlement, avant de le dissoudre en mars 2022.

Il a ensuite révisé la Constitution pour réduire les prérogatives du Parlement et revenir à un système ultra-présidentiel similaire à celui d'avant la Révolution de 2011 et la chute du dictateur Ben Ali. 

Ses détracteurs l'accusent d'instaurer une nouvelle autocratie dans le pays qui fut pourtant le berceau du Printemps arabe.

Outre les divisions politiques, le pays connait de graves difficultés économiques avec notamment des pénuries de produits alimentaires et une forte inflation.

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