Founder of Tunisian Democratic Current Mohamed Abou revealed that his party supports Tunisian Prime Minister Yussef Al Shahed in his campaign against corruption, saying that they express astonishment over the suspension of suspicious conditions.
He added, in a statement to “Arabs Today”, that The Tunisian prime minister has embarked on a sweeping crackdown against organized crime, arresting nearly a dozen mafia bosses and smuggling barons in recent weeks in an effort to stamp out what has become a nearly existential threat to the young democracy.
The campaign, he said, is proving popular among Tunisians frustrated at increasingly brazen corruption, a stagnating economy and an ever-widening gap between rich and poor.
The drive has surprised nearly everyone for its vigor, but it is not without risks, as the mafia bosses have become so powerful that financial and political analysts say they present a threat as dangerous as terrorism.
He stressed, “We are persuaded there is a link between smuggling, terrorism financing, cross-border activities and also capital flight. We are not targeting people but the whole system.” He added that Corruption has been suffocating Tunisia’s economy, which was already battered by a wave of bloody terrorism attacks in 2015 and 2016. Corruption in public contracting alone is costing the country nearly $1 billion a year, according to Chawki Tabib, the head of the anticorruption agency.
He added that “I think they seized this opportunity to do what they had not dared,” said Sihem Bensedrine, the president of the Truth and Dignity Commission, which has a mandate to uncover human rights and financial abuses during nearly 60 years of authoritarian rule. “Maybe this is a first step, it is good that they started.”