Tunisian PM pleads for “unprecedented” development approach

22 Novembre 2020

Tunis, Tunisia,  november 22  (Infosplusgabon) - Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi Saturday pleaded for a new development approach to reduce regional imbalance and avoid social explosion, an official source said.

Speaking at the opening of the conference of governors, Mechichi indicated that the new development policy, different those used decades ago, would be based on the appropriate response to the expectations of citizens in the regions.

This, he said, was in consonance with what both President Kaïs Saied and the head of the powerful central trade union (UGTT), Noureddine Tabboubi, have constantly been asking the government to place on top of the agenda.

“To this end, experts will travel to all governorates to implement projects in partnership with national organizations and civil society, within the framework of regional councils which will be chaired by members of the government,” he announced.

Mechichi noted that the visits of the working teams to the regions during the development councils, which would be held soon, aimed to take note of all the proposals made at the local level.

According to him, “this participatory process breaks with unilateral and centralized decision-making which does not take into account the specificities of each region”.

The Tunisian chief executive said that the promotion of social conditions required the adoption of equitable and united development policies to do justice to the interior regions which had long suffered from marginalization and development delays.

Virtually ignored since the country’s independence in 1956, these regions have the highest rates of unemployment and poverty. Unlike coastal areas, they suffer from a glaring lack of basic infrastructure and amenities for a dignified life.

The call by the prime minister is seen as a sign of appeasement following the social unrest unleashed in recent weeks in several impoverished regions where threats of a general strike and other forms of protest have emerged.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/AZS/GABON2020

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