Tunisian organizations call for a protest against the Finance Law

The Tunisian General Labor Union and national and human rights organizations called for participation in a protest movement against the 2027 Finance Law, on the anniversary of the revolution, which falls on December 17, according to what the German Press Agency reported on Friday.

This is the latest planned move by the Labor Union, the largest union in Tunisia, and civil society, after a series of organized marches against the policies of the authorities, led by President Kais Saied with broad powers, high prices and restrictions against public freedoms. The coordination is led in particular by the Union, the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights, the Bar Association, the Journalists Syndicate, and other civil society organizations.

The coordination opposes what it considers to be the entrenchment of tax pressure in the Finance Law, the lack of tax justice, the decline in investment, the decline in public services, the rise in prices, and the deterioration of the purchasing power of large sectors of Tunisians. The Coordination Committee said that the Finance Law, which is being discussed in Parliament, is not an economic rescue or social reform project, but rather it burdens wage earners and vulnerable groups with the cost of the crisis, in exchange for the absence of political responsibility for failure and negligence.

In this regard, Ramadan Ben Omar, an activist specializing in issues related to economic and social rights and immigration, told the German News Agency: “Officials are absent today, as is dialogue and communication, when we see protests for water, the right to work and for environmental demands, and instead of negotiating, the security authorities are present.” He continued, explaining: “The issue is political in its essence for the regional and even central authorities, who feel incapable of dialogue because the decision is limited to one institution.”

Government data showed earlier that most of the state's income in 2026 will come from taxes, at a rate of more than 91 percent, in light of the decline in external lending, which sheds light on the challenges faced by production, investment, and the future of growth. A joint statement by the coordination said: “We reject the Finance Law to be a consolidation of a fait accompli, and we reject the financial balance to be at the expense of the social balance.” Tension prevails between the authority and the Tunisian General Union, which protested the suspension of social negotiations in order to increase wages.

On the night of Thursday-Friday, after hearing more than 15 defendants in the case known locally as the “Foreign Bloggers File,” the investigation chief in charge of terrorism crimes in Nouakchott ordered that 7 defendants be placed in prison, and 9 others subjected to judicial monitoring, while he decided to release a tenth defendant on condition of attendance.

Local sources said that the investigation leader also ordered the issuance of warrants to arrest 7 defendants in the file who are outside the country, most of whom are in the United States, and who are strongly active on social media.

These decisions came after a long day of hearing the defendants in the case, which continued until late Thursday-Friday night, amid tight security measures in the vicinity of the Palace of Justice, while dozens of families and relatives of the defendants gathered.

On Thursday evening, the Public Prosecution held a press conference in which it said that the judicial police had referred the file to it. The prosecution team in charge of terrorism crimes worked on it, studied digital and other evidence, and listened to the suspects, in accordance with “Article 28” of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The prosecution charged those involved with forming an organized gang to threaten the internal and external security of the state, demanding the elimination of the constitutional order, harming the state’s prestige, national unity and civil peace, and inciting discrimination and hatred, via social media platforms.

The list of charges also included divulging military information with the intention of harming national defense and security, weakening the morale of the armed forces, defamation, slander, spreading false news, and money laundering, which are very serious charges. While the coordinator of the prosecution team in charge of terrorism crimes, Public Prosecutor Judge Abdullah Ankajali, confirmed that the actions attributed to the group target the security of the state, its constitutional system, and its national unity.

The prosecution requested the opening of an investigation against 22 people, with arrest warrants for 7 who are abroad, placing 15 in prison, and charging two of the defendants with money laundering, while placing them under strict judicial surveillance.

The prosecution explained that the charges against the detainees are criminalized in a group of Mauritanian laws, the most prominent of which are the anti-terrorism law, the law relating to the protection of national symbols, the criminalization of attacking the prestige of the state, the honor of the citizen, the law relating to the criminalization of discrimination, in addition to the criminal law, the cybercrime law, the law relating to protection against tampering with information, and the anti-money laundering law.

The arrests began on September 28, and included relatives of opposition bloggers abroad, then expanded to include journalists, currency exchange shop owners, and real estate market brokers. The government at the time described the file as a security campaign aimed at dismantling a “financial extortion network.”

The defense of three detainees said on November 4 that their detention was “control detention.” A statement by the prosecution justified preventing detainees from contacting their lawyers with “Article 58,” which excludes cases of state security and terrorism.

Opponents and bloggers denied the charges and described the file as revenge. The total number of defendants in the Pole’s decision is 24 people, including 17 inside the country, and 7 are wanted.

The controversy in Egypt has not stopped over who was responsible for the accident of two trains colliding in the city of Al-Ayat in Giza Governorate, south of Cairo, last Sunday, at a time when technical committees began examining the work of the “Railway Authority” and determining the cause of the accident. While the Ministry of Transport denied statements attributed to the Aswan train commander regarding the train’s tractor breakdown and his request for help from control tower officials.

Some point out that there is a political responsibility for the Minister of Transport, Lieutenant General Kamel Al-Wazir, as he is responsible for operating policies and issuing instructions, and the extent of his commitment to implementing the safety and security systems on which billions of pounds were spent to protect the lives of citizens.

While others argued for the necessity of waiting for the results of the investigations and finding out who was directly responsible for the accident, saying that the minister would not be able to address possible human errors and the negligence of people who could have easily avoided the matter.

On Thursday, the South Giza Court decided to renew the detention of the Raqqa station controller and its superintendent for 15 days pending investigations, after the Public Prosecution heard the statements of the head of the Central Department of Signals and Communications at the Railway Authority, who confirmed their failure to follow up on the control panel, in addition to the acknowledgment of the two accused during the investigations.

The Public Prosecution continues its investigations into the collision of the front of train No. 134 (Giza - Fayoum line) with the last car of train No. 2010 (Cairo - Aswan), as the latter stopped in the same direction, resulting in the death of 7 people and the injury of 125 others.

After social media users and a number of press sites circulated statements attributed to the conductor of Train No. 2010 in which he said that he had waited for more than an hour and a third and had called for help from officials from three control towers without a response, which caused Train No. 134 to collide with him from behind, the Ministry of Transport denied this.

The Ministry said in a press statement on Thursday that the Deputy Minister of Transport for Electric Traction and Railways, Wajdi Radwan, and the Head of the Railway Authority, Mohamed Amer, “contacted directly with the conductor of Train No. 2010, who denied the validity of the statements attributed to him, stressing that they were incorrect statements and did not come from him.”

The Public Prosecution’s assignments to the Engineering Committee, before which it was sworn in before beginning its work on Wednesday, included examining the work system at the Egyptian National Railway Authority and examining the reasons for the repeated derailment of some train cars. It also included examining the technical condition of the two trains, and explaining the reason for the stop of train No. 2010 and the causes of the collision.

The head of the “Awareness” Party and member of the Senate, Basil Adel, said that a distinction must be made between the administrative responsibility for the accident, which is determined by the Public Prosecution, the investigation authorities, and the assigned technical committees on the one hand, and the political responsibility that falls on the Minister of Transport due to the repeated occurrence of accidents and the fall of victims on the other hand, in addition to the clear negligence as a result of a train colliding with another stationary one without any sign of it stopping.

He added to Asharq Al-Awsat that the minister’s enjoyment of great powers and granting him the authority to make decisions in his ministry and his ability to issue exceptional regulations, laws and decisions to regulate the workflow and ensure its efficiency requires accountability, and the repeated occurrence of “trains of the poor” accidents requires accountability for the development plans and budgets of the ministry, provided that there is criminal accountability for whoever caused the accident and identifying him.

The Public Prosecution’s preliminary investigations indicate that a technical examination of the automatic control devices on the trains and the station proved that the conductor of Train No. 134 disabled the train’s automatic control system. During the Public Prosecution’s interrogation of the controller and superintendent of Al-Raqqa station, “the two defendants admitted that they had failed to perform their duty in monitoring the control panel regarding the status of traffic signal tower No. 10.”

While awaiting the results of the investigations into the “Al-Ayat train” accident, another accident occurred north of Cairo, on Thursday, on the (Ismailia - Suez) line, as a result of a train car derailing on the Dabbiya road in Ismailia, without causing any casualties, according to local newspapers.

Member of the House of Representatives, Thuraya Al-Badawi, said that the matter first requires understanding the real causes and addressing them, while taking into account that the minister heads leaders who may bear direct or indirect responsibility for the events that occurred. She added: “We must know whether officials and supervisors have dealt positively with the powers granted to them or whether there are deficiencies that require accountability.”

A spokeswoman for Asharq Al-Awsat added: “The principle of dismissal or resignation is not useful in this context, as the problems will remain as long as they are not addressed, whoever the responsible minister is,” noting that “making the decision to dismiss means that another minister will take his place and he will need time to get to know the nature of the situation; During his tenure, it is possible that any negative events will be repeated.”

She stressed the importance of Parliament's contribution in following up on deficiencies, studying strengths and weaknesses, and holding the official who committed the mistake accountable, with the need to fully recognize the challenges facing work at the facility and take the necessary measures to prevent the mistake from being repeated.