Caretaker PM's speech sharply criticised

The speech delivered by Caretaker Prime Minister Béji Caïd Essebsi during a meeting held on Thursday morning in Tunis, has nursed the fears that the Interim Government would fail to treat the various national issues and files, the political parties' leaders who had boycotted the meeting pointed out. They denounced the non-association of all political parties in defining Tunisia's outlines and the government's silence regarding political money that risks to threaten the electoral operation, in addition to the deterioration of the security and social situation. Secretary-General of "Baâth" Movement Othmane Belhadj Amor said that the movement had expressed reservations on two points; the violence perpetrated against participants in the Kasbah III sit-in and the distinction between "friend" parties and "not likened" parties. Joined by telephone, Mr. Belhaj specified to TAP news agency that "these reservations were confirmed after the speech of Béji Caïd Essebssi, who did not take the trouble to mention or refer to these two points." He estimated in this regard that "ignoring the issue of political money is deliberate," criticising in this regard, the government's treatment of several issues and files which he described as "ineffective and incoherent." For Unionist People's Front Co-ordinator-General Amor Mèjri, Mr. Caïd Essebsi's speech confirmed the party's misgivings regarding the preparations of the October 23 elections, denouncing the association of some parties to the detriment of several others in these preparations and the silence on the file of political money which, he said, "was not mentioned whichever way." He pointed out that "boycotting the meeting does not mean in the least a breaking off with the Interim Government" which, he added, is called to associate all political parties in building up the country's future and to consult them on current files, as part of consecrating pluralism and respect of the opinion and its opposite. Secretary-General of the Party of Congress for the Republic (CPR) Samir Ben Amor said on the phone, that "the Prime Minister's speech shattered expectations, reckoning that the country's leaders "are unable to make concrete steps to achieve the Revolution objectives." He pointed out that "the current government is but making people sink in disillusion, as it has not yet achieved anything for Tunisians," specifying that CPR's opposition to the Interim Government would continue, as long as it does not judge the symbols of the deposed regime and the killers of innocents. He also denounced the government's failure to contain the security drift and its persistence to repress peaceful demonstrations, concluding that "the government failed to achieve the Revolution objectives." Republican People's Union (UPR) Chairman Lotfi el Mraihi specified that the decision to boycott the Caretaker Prime Minister's meeting is due to the weaknesses recorded in the government's security policy, mode of managing political affairs and softness in judging the symbols of the former regime. These issues, he pointed out, had not been mentioned in the Prime Minister's speech and are still on hold. He described Béji Caïd Essebsi's government as just a "Ghannouchi III government," since it includes figures of the former regime who still leading the country behind the scenes." For his part, Progress Party Secretary-General Fathi Touzri said to TAP that "the interim government is working in a limited framework and in consultation with some parties to the exclusion of others, reminding of the former regime's practices." He specified that "in this transitional stage and with the lack of a parliamentary authority, the Interim Government should have established a national dialogue and launched the political process with the participation of all the society components." "The government, he concluded, has not managed to lay the foundations of a reconciliation and national unity and to start judicial, security, administrative and media reforms, specifying that these reforms would have paved the way for the next government.