Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Africa North

Point-blank: On Egypt and Tunisia

2022-06-02

[AlAhram] Has Tunisia at last emerged from the dark tunnel of chaos to the light of stability? Tunisian President Kais Saied has recently formed an advisory committee to draw up a new constitution to establish what he termed "the new republic".

According to his roadmap, the committee will submit the draft to him on 20 June and a referendum will be held on it on 25 July. Tunisia is thus emulating the course Egypt took after the Moslem Brüderbund rode the crest of anarchy to assume power in Egypt, just as the Ennahda Party did in Tunisia.

Also, just as the Moslem Brüderbund stalled the realisation of the new order to which the Egyptian revolution had aspired, so too did the empowered Ennahda engender a state of anarchy that lasted more than a decade.

Yet, whereas Egyptians rose up after only a year of the Moslem Brüderbund regime and asked the army to step in to end rule by the Supreme Guide, Tunisia continued to flounder in an endless cycle of political conflicts between civil forces pressing for modern democratic government and Islamists aspiring to a monopoly on power. The result was political and institutional paralysis causing unprecedented economic deterioration. Unemployment rose to 19 per cent. The poverty rate climbed to 15 per cent nationwide and to over 40 per cent in some governorates.

According to the Institut arabe des chefs d’entreprises (IACE), more than 300 foreign businesses and branches closed down and left the country. Then Covid-19 struck, costing the Tunisian economy more than eight billion Tunisian dinars ($2.75 billion), according to the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics. In light of the gravity of this decade-long crisis, President Saied took several extraordinary steps. He dissolved the parliament, dismissed the government and dissolved the High Judicial Council. More recently, he appointed a new electoral commission before forming the above-mentioned constitutional drafting committee. As he explained at the time, his aim is "to rescue and change Tunisia after a decade of ruin."

How similar yet how different Tunisia’s experience has been compared to that of Egypt, which surpassed all those problems years ago, enabling it to march boldly and rapidly towards reconstruction and comprehensive development.

They forgot shoulder to shoulder, but most of the standards are contained —an impressive piece of writing! — in that single sentence.

Link

Africa North

THE ANGRY ARAB: Counter-Revolution Strikes Tunisia

2021-08-09

Via Colonel Cassad (Boris Rozhin):
[ConsortiumNews] The monarchical-sounding declaration by Kaïs Saïed eight days ago was stunning: the president who was freely elected in 2019 (for only the second time in Tunisian history) was basically proclaiming a coup d’etat by dismissing the prime minister and suspending parliament.

Saïed was elected nine years after the overthrow of President Zine Ben Ali, who in 1987 as the security chief launched a coup against Habib Bourguiba, the founding president of Tunisia. The 1987 coup was classified in Arab political terminology as a “medical coup”, because Ben Ali stated that Bourguiba was no longer mentally fit to assume the duties of the office.

As is well-known, the protests against the corruption and repression of Ben Ali (a darling of Western governments and lending institutions) sparked the Arab uprisings in December 2010.

SURPRISE WINNER
Kaïs Saïed was an unexpected victor in the 2019 presidential election. He was a professor of constitutional law, did not belong to a political party and was not affiliated with any political ideology.

He won support in television debates largely due to his strong command of classical Arabic in a country where French influence remains strong.

Furthermore, Saïed’s campaign was noted for his firm and categorical denunciation of any normalization with Israel. His answers regarding Palestinian rights and rejection of Israel were a hit on social media, and helped propel him to the top job.

Saïed attracted support among Tunisian youth because he represented a new genre of politicians who have not been tainted by the corrupt system.

The political system that emerged after the end of the Ben Ali rule suffered from many weaknesses; the divide between the secularists and the Islamists only widened, and the regional, political wars between the UAE and Saudi Arabia on the one hand, and Qatar and Turkey on the other hand, raged inside Tunisia, just as they did in Libya and elsewhere.
Read the rest at the link

Link

Africa North

Tunisia puts Ennahda official under house arrest, colleague says

2021-08-07

[AlAhram] Anouar Maarouf is the most prominent member of the party to be targeted since President Kais Saied dismissed the prime minister and suspended parliament on July 25

Tunisia’s interior ministry has put under house arrest a bigwig of the Ennahda party which opposes the president’s seizure of governing powers, one of his colleagues said on Friday.

Anouar Maarouf is the most prominent member of the party to be targeted since President Kais Saied dismissed the prime minister and suspended parliament on July 25.

Maarouf was minister of communications and technology from 2016-20 , a government department which Saied has suggested parties tried to manipulate for their own advantage.

"Anouar Maarouf was informed by official authorities that he is under house arrest," an Ennahda official told Rooters, asking not to be named.

The Interior Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
"I can say no more!"
Though Saied’s moves appear to have popular support, they have raised questions over Tunisia’s democratic transition a decade after it threw off autocratic rule in a revolution that triggered the 2011 Arab Spring.

Several politicians and officials have been detained or put under investigation, including on old warrants that were implemented after the president lifted parliamentary immunity.

Saied has moved to gain direct control over the Interior Ministry and Communications and Technology Ministry, replacing the ministers in charge of both.

This week, he said he would not accept future communications and technology ministers being linked to political parties that might want control over citizens’ data.

Ennahda is one of four political parties that the judiciary said last week it was investigating over foreign financing.

It says it has not broken any rules.

The judiciary also briefly investigated four party members, including some close to the leader, parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi, over slight scuffles with Saied supporters on July 26. The cases were quickly dropped, however.

Link

Africa North

Saied Slams Symbols of 'Political Islam' in Tunisia

2021-04-15

[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Tunisia’s President Kais Saied slammed on Tuesday representatives of "political Islam" in the country.

In an address to Tunisians on the occasion of the start of Ramadan, he hoped for an end to the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
pandemic and to "political epidemics," in an implicit reference to Islamists.

His comments raised question marks over the strategy he would adopt to confront his political rivals, mainly the Islamist Ennahda Party, which backs Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi.

According to observers, Saied changed his rhetoric towards the political parties that speak in the name of religion once he returned from his three-day visit to Cairo.

The opposition al-Amal party considered raising this issue in Egypt an attempt to allow foreign intervention in Tunisia’s internal affairs and a threat to the country’s national security.

The party stressed that political Islam shouldn’t be addressed "through attempts to internationalize or hinder the parliament’s work or obstruct the establishment of the Constitutional Court."

It further affirmed its keenness to "bring down" representatives of political Islam in the country and introduce political change while respecting the constitution and resorting to polls.

The President had earlier described the political situation in Tunis as "painful," stressing for a strong political determination to resolve it.

During his meeting with some members of the Tunisian community in Egypt, Saied pledged to find a solution.

Link

India-Pakistan

Security forces kill TTP terrorist in South Waziristan

2021-04-14

[DAILYTIMES.PK] Security forces during an operation on Tuesday killed a Tehrik-e-Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain (TTP) terrorist in Ladha, South Wazoo, Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement.TTP terrorist Pir, alias Asad, was killed after security forces conducted an operation in the Ladha region of South Waziristan after the reports of snuffies in the region emerged.

After an intense exchange of fire, the terrorist named Pir alias Asad was rubbed out.

Terrorist, Asad was an active member of TTP’s Baitullah Mehsud group in Ladha since 2006, said the military’s media wing. The TTP terrorist remained actively involved in terror activities

Earlier during another exchange of fire, one terrorist named Zahid ud Din resident of Dewagar, North Waziristan was killed.

Terrorist Zahid ud Din was an active member of TTP in the Dewagar and Kharseen areas, said the ISPR, adding that the TTP terrorist remained actively involved in murders, terrorist activities against security forces, extortion and planting IEDs.

Link

Africa North

Tunisia PM-designate will form a technocrat government without political parties

2020-08-11

[EN.ALGHADEER.TV] Tunisia prime minister-designate Hichem Mechichi said on Monday he will form a technocrat government without political parties, due to the disagreement between parties in the North Africa country.

Mechichi’s decision will likely put him in confrontation with the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party, the largest party in Parliament, which announced its rejection of a government without political parties.

Link

Africa North

Tunisia's parliament to start confidence-withdrawal procedures against Ennahda's Al-Ghannouchi

2020-07-24

[Al Ahram] The Tunisian parliament said the procedures for withdrawing confidence from its speaker and the Islamist Ennahda Party's leader Rached al-Ghannouchi will begin on Thursday.

The meeting was expected to be held on Wednesday, but it was postponed for "unknown reasons", reported Russia Today (RT) on the basis of information gained from local news sources.

Opposition MPs officially submitted a request to hold a vote of no-confidence against al-Ghannouchi last Thursday after securing the support of 73 MPs, the number of backers required to move forward with the process.

Yet, to remove al-Ghannouchi from his post, they need to get the votes of 109 MPs in the 217-seat parliament.

Earlier this month, parliamentary sources in Tunisia, the satellite TV channel al-Arabiya reported, said that political forces were "fed up with al-Ghannouchi’s suspicious moves and practices," including his "attempt to implement the Moslem Brüderbund agenda" in Tunisia, accusing him of seeking to expand his authority by disregarding the president.

The opposition believes that a conflict of interest exists between al-Ghannouchi’s posts as Ennahda’s leader and speaker of parliament.

The opposition includes al-Kotla al-Democrateya Party (40 MPs), Tahya Tounes, al-Islah al-Watani (15), al-Kotla al-Wataneya (nine) and the Free Destourian Party (17).

Link

Africa North

In Tunisia's caretaker government, Ennahda ministers excluded

2020-07-17

[Al Ahram] Tunisia's caretaker Prime Minister Elyes al-Fakhfakh dismissed all ministers of the Islamist Ennahda Party Thursday, one day after he submitted his resignation to President Kais Saied.

According to the official Facebook page of the Tunisian government, the ministers who lost their posts include Minister of Youth and Sports Ahmed Gaaloul, Minister of Public Works, Housing and Spatial Planning Moncef Sliti, Minister of State for Local Affairs Lotfi Zitoun, Minister of Transportation and Logistics Anwar Marouf, Minister of Health Abdel Latif Mekky, and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Selim al-Shoura.

Ghazi al-Shouashi, Asmaa al-Sehery, Shoukry Belhasan, Fadel Karem, al-Habib al-Kasho and Lobna al-Gerebi were appointed as ministers of housing, youth and sports, local affairs, transportation, health and higher education respectively.

One day earlier, Wednesday, al-Fakhfakh was still the North African country's head of government, voted for by parliament five months ago. But he earned caretaker status after he submitted his resignation to Saied in light of a political crisis with Ennahda.

The process of finalising the lineup of al-Fakhfakh's coalition took roughly four months after Tunisia held parliamentary elections in October 2019. al-Fakhfakh's Thursday move means that as long as no new head of government and list of ministers is agreed upon by Tunisia's political forces, and approved by parliament, Ennahda will continue to lack representation in the ruling coalition government.

Ironically, no other party has more seats than Ennahda (52 seats) in the 217-seat Tunisian parliament.

On Tuesday, Ennahda said it will push for a vote of no confidence against al-Fakhfakh after he decided to reshuffle the cabinet. Ennahda, which both al-Fakhfakh and Saied opposed, wanted consultations over selecting a new head of government and including new political forces in the coalition government, such as Qalb Tounes Party.

The Islamist party argued that Tunisia needs a better balance between its government and parliament.

But the change that Ennahda wanted in the structure of the coalition government would eventually mean less cabinet representation for anti-Islamist forces. Moreover, opposition parties did not welcome including Qalb Tounes in government as its leader and former presidential candidate Nabil Karoui has corruption allegations against him.

As a result, Ennahda announced it will seek a vote of no confidence against al-Fakhfakh. The motion against him has reportedly secured the 109 votes required for parliament to pass it. Political sources told Rooters that Saied asked al-Fakhfakh, who is also currently facing accusations of conflict of interest, to leave office.

Link

Africa North

Tunisia's Ennahda faces growing opposition in parliament; MPs seek no-confidence vote against Ghannouchi

2020-07-13

[Al Ahram] Amid calls for a strike by some MPs and political moves by others to withdraw confidence from Tunisian parliament speaker Rached al-Ghannouchi, the country’s Islamist Ennahda Party, which is headed by al-Ghannouchi, is currently going through tough times.

According to al-Arabiya, a parliamentary source revealed that a number of political forces in parliament are "fed up with al-Ghannouchi’s suspicious moves and practices," including his "attempt to implement the Moslem Brüderbund’s agenda" in the North African country.

They also accused al-Ghannouchi of seeking to expand his authority by disregarding that of the president.

These Tunisian political forces believe that a conflict of interest exists between al-Ghannouchi’s roles as Ennahda’s leader and the speaker of the parliament.

As a result, they agreed to collect signatures for a vote of no confidence against al-Ghannouchi, the details of which they will officially reveal on Monday.

This step, the source said, has been undertaken by political forces including al-Kotla al-Democrateya (40 seats); Tahya Tounes (14 seats); al-Islah al-Watani (15 seats) and al-Kotla al-Wataneya (nine seats).

They are also backed by the Free Destourian Party, which has 17 seats in parliament. Awatef Koresh, a Destourian MP, told Sky News Arabia on Sunday that al-Ghannouchi represents a "threat to Tunisia’s security."

Koresh called on the rest of the political forces in the Tunisian parliament to join an open strike organised by her party against Ennahda.

However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
no other party has more seats than Ennahda (52 seats) in the Tunisian parliament. Overall, the parliament has 217 MPs.

This puts into question the chance for success of a no-confidence vote against al-Ghannouchi, especially since the anti-Ennahda forces have to—based on parliamentary regulations—secure an absolute majority (73 votes) for their bill to remove al-Ghannouchi from the top legislative post within only three weeks.

Link

Africa North

Ghannouchi congratulates Al-Sarraj on the capture of Al-Watiya

2020-05-21

[Libya Observer] The Speaker of the Tunisian House of Representatives (HoR), Rached Ghannouchi, congratulated the Government of National Accord (GNA), on its capture of the strategically important, al-Watiya Air Base.

Ghannouchi, in a telephone conversation with the head of the Presidential Council (PC), Fayez al-Sarraj, discussed developments on the present situation in Libya, expressing his delight at the capture of al-Watiya and its return into the hands of the legitimate government, as it is so close to the Tunisian border.

He went on to say that there is no military solution to the conflict in Libya, stressing the need for a return to political dialogue.

On his part, al-Sarraj praised Tunisia’s keenness on security and stability in Libya, expressing his wish to enhance cooperation between both countries.

Link

Africa North

Turkish Affairs Expert: Erdogan Seeks to Exploit Tunisia’s Ennahda to Cross Turkish Arms to Libya

2020-05-02

[ALMARSAD.CO] In exclusive remarks to the Egyptian satellite channel Extra News, Karam Saeed indicated that many ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish soldiers have been killed in Libya. Due to huge losses that Erdogan’s forces had suffered in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
it has resulting in growing criticism by ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish opposition to Erdogan’s policy on military interference in Libya.

Moreover, he pointed out that ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
attempted to exploit Algeria and to make it a crossing border to smuggle weapons to terrorist militias in Tripoli, yet the plan failed thanks to categorical by Algerian.

Saeed revealed that Turkey is now trying to use Tunisia as a crossing point for ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish arms to Libya, taking advantage of the Tunisian Islamist Ennahda Movement’s privilege at the Tunisian Parliament to pass needed resolutions. The Ennahda party, led by Rachid Ghannouchi who is currently the Speaker of the Tunisian Parliament, is affiliated to the Moslem Brüderbund.

Link

-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Coronaplague Roundup

2020-03-23

Merkel Quarantined After Contact with Doctor Infected by Coronavirus
[BREITBART] Germany’s Angela Merkel
...chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom. Now they make faces at her for inundating the country with Moslem colonists...
has gone self-quarantined in her home after contact with a doctor infected by the Wuhan coronavirus.

Rand Paul tests positive for coronavirus
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Republican from Kentucky becomes first U.S. senator to be infected and reveals he didn't have any symptoms

Seven-month-old boy becomes youngest in the U.S. to test positive for Chinese Plague
Mom shares pictures of her sick boy in hospital and slams experts who said children aren't at risk
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News]

Courtney Watts Doster got her son Emmett tested Monday and results Tuesday returned a positive result

The seven-month-old has pneumonia, the most severe form of the virus

Doster's mother was unknowingly carrying the virus before they knew Emmett had it and was in contact with the child

Medical experts were unsure whether Emmett could be tested the same way as adults

'We were told that this virus wasn't affecting small children so "no need to worry"! How wrong were they?!' she posted on Facebook

Emmett is doing better but she worries he could take a turn for the worse

She has urged people to stay home and not take their kids on play dates

S.Korea reports 98 more COVID-19 cases, 8,897 in total

[XINHUANET] South Korea reported 98 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Sunday local time, raising the total number of infections to 8,897.

The newly confirmed cases fell below 100 again, after recording 147 on Saturday. The figure moved above or below 100 for the past week.

Two more deaths were confirmed, lifting the corpse count to 104. The total fatality rate came in at 1.17 percent.

A total of 297 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 2,909. The number of recoveries kept surpassing new infections.

Number of coronavirus cases in Spain rises to 28,572

[XinHoa] Close to 400 new deaths were registered on Sunday, bringing the total death toll to 1,720. Meanwhile, 2,575 people have recovered from the disease. The health ministry also confirmed that 3,475 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus.

Canadian doctor turns one ventilator into nine with some 'evil genius' DIY mechanics - winning fans, including Elon Musk

It’s Barack Obama's Fault There’s a Shortage of N95 Respirator Masks
[PJMedia] Back in 2005, the Bush administration published the “National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza.” The strategy called for plans to distribute medical supplies from the national stockpile and to assist state and local efforts to handle an outbreak, but last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told Congress that the national stockpile of N95 respirator masks was 12 million—a mere fraction of the 1.7 billion masks government scientists estimated back in 2015 would be needed in the event of a severe flu outbreak.

Buried several paragraphs deep in the aforementioned Bloomberg story we find out that “after the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009, which triggered a nationwide shortage of masks and caused a 2- to 3-year backlog orders for the N95 variety, the stockpile distributed about three-quarters of its inventory and didn’t build back the supply.”

Change in U.S. law will make millions more masks available to doctors and nurses, White House says
[JewishWorldReview] New legislation signed Wednesday provides manufacturers of N95 face masks protection against lawsuits when selling certain masks to healthcare workers, Pence said. That will free producers including 3M and Honeywell to sell tens of millions more masks per month to hospitals, Pence said, helping alleviate alarming shortages that have surfaced in recent weeks amid the coronavirus crisis.

"They are available now," Pence said when asked when the extra masks would hit the market.

The change means Minnesota-based 3M will now be free to sell 420 million masks a year to the U.S. healthcare sector, Pence said. And Honeywell of Charlotte, North Carolina, will soon boost N95 mask output in the U.S. by an additional 120 million masks per year, Pence said.

Gaza reports first two COVID-19 cases
[XINHUANET]

Number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reaches 534 in Pakistan
[XINHUANET]

Domino's hiring 10,000 employees amid coronavirus demand surge
[Fox Business]

BREAKING — Coronavirus death toll reaches 30 in Turkey as cases jump to 1,236, Health Minister Koca says pic.twitter.com/OKLojDw1N0
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) March 22, 2020

#Tunisia death toll from coronavirus jumpsto 3 https://t.co/CdSSSnk5uU
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) March 22, 2020

Coronavirus death toll spikes to 674 in France as cases surpass 16,000https://t.co/WuHqWTEsM1
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) March 22, 2020

Coronavirus: Emirates to cut wages
[MIDDLEEASTMONITOR] Emirates, one of the world’s biggest international airlines, will ground its entire passenger fleet this week and cut staff wages by as much as half because of the coronavirus

LATEST — Greece announces total coronavirus lockdown starting Monday morning to curb spread of the virus pic.twitter.com/XdU55GVFEk
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) March 22, 2020

Italian mayor: “I’m getting news that some of you would like to throw graduation parties. We will send the police. With flamethrowers” https://t.co/EUjfbotUH9
— Dylan Baddour (@DylanBaddour) March 22, 2020

A new test that will give results in 45 minutes should be in production by the end of this month, says @VP.
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) March 22, 2020

JUST IN: @who reports that four more countries in the Africa region have reported their first #coronavirus cases: Angola, Eritrea, Madagascar and Uganda. Many countries in the region have fragile health systems https://t.co/fzgkSTgu4P #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/UW5ZvTdmV7
— Michael Bociurkiw (@WorldAffairsPro) March 22, 2020

Speaker of Cameroon’s parliament has tested positive for #COVID19. https://t.co/ZseWSTCrFe
— Yörük Işık (@YorukIsik) March 22, 2020

Governor Cuomo slams 'arrogant and insensitive' New Yorkers for going outside
[DailyMail] ...warns 80% of the state will be infected and orders FOUR hospitals for 1,000 coronavirus patients to be built inside the Javits Center

US airlines warn of 'draconian' measures and widespread layoffs
[DailyMail]...if Congress fails to help save the airline industry and support its 750,000 employees

Link

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