In the name of Allah the Merciful
#Tunisia on May 11, 2022.
#An open letter to Her Excellency Mrs. Yael Lambert
#Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
#Dear Mrs. Yael Lambert Assistant Secretary of State, and welcome to Tunisia, the country of Jasmine.
#Dear Honorable Assistant Secretary of State for the US Department of State.
#In the name of the presidency and members of the Assembly of People’s Representatives of the Republic of Tunisia we renew our highest expressions of thanks and appreciation to the American people and their friendly government, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of the United States of America in Tunisia, for your unwavering support to our national effort to resist this pandemic crisis with 3 million necessary vaccinations and vital medical aid.
#While we recall with gratitude your joint efforts to strengthen the long-standing and deep foundations of our strategic partnership in our security challenges, especially economic and social challenges, we today look forward more than ever to a solid stance and clear alignment to our common values in support of our fundamental freedoms and the preservation of our young representative democracy. The difficult and complex challenges during this historical juncture exposed our country to real threats to the foundations of its modern state and the modernity values of its ancient republic and its emerging democracy since the coup against the constitution that the President perpetrated on July 25, 2021.
#Since the first days of the coup against the constitution our country has been honored to receive a distinguished group of American legislators and senior officials in the American administration, and the Embassy of the United States of America in Tunisia issued several statements, individually or collectively, accompanied by the embassies of friend countries, in which it expressed its bias to the aspirations of the Tunisian people for the return of the constitutional path, elected institutions and their legitimate right to an elected government in order to lead a broad internal Tunisian national dialogue that includes all political, social and civil components, and leads to the return of legitimate institutions through a collective Tunisian roadmap backed by an international effort to save Tunisia from the specter of bankruptcy Supporting economic recovery efforts …
#We value all these efforts and consider them sincere and commendable.
However, the systematic demolition process led by Mr. Qais Saied of all constitutional and democratic institutions, including the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, the elected government, the Constitutional Law Monitoring Authority, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Supreme Judicial Council, and last but not least, the Independent High Authority for Elections, in addition to the threat to our political parties and all manifestations of free and independent civil society under the watchful eye of the Tunisian people and international public opinion, and in the absence of any conscious will from the part of Mr. Qais Saeed to save the country and counter the serious financial, economic and social problems facing our country and start any measure of reform to restore the Tunisian economy to the gradual recovery and then the desired growth,
#The Tunisian people invite you and all friends of Tunisia to redouble your efforts to stop this dangerous path that threatens the societal peace and civil stability in Tunisia and destabilizes the state and its institutions in general.
In line with your message in Tunisia today, and the efforts of the American administration to support the aspirations of the Tunisian people in restoring democracy and saving from the real dangers of the complex constitutional, financial, economic and social crisis, we call upon you to:
1- Alert Mr. Qais Saeed of the seriousness of the financial, economic and social risks resulting from the continuation of the state of exception, and the need to end it as soon as possible by signing Law No. 01 of 2022, and stop perusing his personal agenda the failure thereof has become apparent by the little participation in his electronic consultation and the very weak popular support that was clearly demonstrated by the small picket organized by the state on May 08, 2022.
2- Pressure Mr. Qais Saied to review his authoritarian approach and give up his ambiguous form of ruling derived from the bad heritage of Colonel Gaddafi, and to stop all military trials and his personal insistence to bring 121 Tunisian deputies to trial without the slightest constitutional reason Or legal charges that carry the death penalty. And to stop all prosecution procedures against all members of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, activists and politicians, in order to preserve his reputation as a man of law, and to preserve the values of the Tunisian Republic and the principles of the peaceful Tunisian revolution.
3- We stress the role of Tunisia’s loyal friends in supporting all national efforts and humanitarian aid, for all the constitutional, political, economic, social and civil components of Tunisian society to sit in a broad and comprehensive Tunisian national dialogue, with close follow-up from the Tunisian people through the national media and the components of its active civil society to come up with a constitutional, legislative and political roadmap and urgent rescue measures, then financial, economic and social reforms agreed upon by a broad consensus.
#The Assembly of the Representatives of the People represents a necessary constitutional bridge to ratify it, elect a new government, and then prepare to go to premature presidential and legislative elections under the supervision of the internationally recognized Independent High Authority for Elections.
4- We call on the United States of America, and all the friends of Tunisia, to invite the United Nations, the international community and the financial institutions for an international investment conference to help Tunisia overcome the financial, economic and social dangers it is currently facing and help restore our sustainable development and social justice, and to stop the accelerating decline under the current leadership of Mr. Qais Saeed.
#Maher Medhioub, Assistant to the Speaker of the Assembly of People’s Representatives in the Republic of Tunisia.