Tunisia Roundup: Bilateral partnerships, debt crisis, football

Strike postponed

A strike planned by agents of the National Interurban Transport Company (SNTRI) for February 28 and 29 has been postponed to April 29 and 30. According to the Transport Ministry in a release, the decision comes after a conciliation meeting held with senior officials of the ministry, the general secretary of the Federation of Transport, and general secretaries of the company’s basic unions. The meeting was held at the headquarters of the general directorate of litigation under the ministry, according to local news outlet Le Temps.

Bilateral Partnerships

Tunisia’s Foreign Affairs Minister has reiterated the country’s willingness to strengthen a partnership with the Principality of Monaco for cooperation in areas of common interest including Climate Change. During a meeting between the Minister of State and President of the Governing Council of the Principality of Monaco, Pierre Dartout, and the Foreign Minister, Nabil Ammar, both representatives outlined their countries’ commitment to continuing the exchanges and cooperation. The Monaco Minister also welcomed the holding of the 4^th session of the bilateral commission which highlights the interest shown by the principality in its relationship of friendship and partnership with Tunisia, La Presse reports.

Opposition leader quits hunger strike

Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi of the Ennahda party has stopped his hunger strike which he started on February 19 over health complications. Tunisian authorities detained a number of high-profile critics of President Kais Saied including Rached Ghannouchi. Rached was visited on February 21 by a delegation from the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights and the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture, both of whom suggested he stop his hunger strike. He reacted to this and quit the strike to avoid serious complications in his state of health, Tunisie Numerique reports.

Debt crisis

Tunisia’s new central bank chief may be facing an exceptionally challenging situation with efforts to avert its debt crisis as talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remain in limbo. Felix Zouhair Nouri who was appointed as the new bank governor by President Kais Saied is expected to navigate the delicate balance of financing the government deficit, service debt obligations, and curb inflationary pressures. He must also seek to maintain the independence of the central bank after Tunisia’s parliament approved a law authorizing the banking regulator to fund part of the government’s financial needs for the year ahead. The decision of the new bank governor will follow previous inconclusive discussions with the president and his predecessor, Marouane Abbasi over the IMF bailout programme, the National News reports.

Olympics Football

The Tunisian national women’s team faced Morocco for a place in the 2024 Olympics. The team played on February 23 at the Soliman Stadium in Tunisia. This was the first leg of the penultimate elimination round of the 2024 Olympic Games against Morocco. The game was scheduled for the afternoon, according to Le Temps.