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Tunisian union, UGTT chief, Noureddine Taboubi accuses President Saied of intimidation

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As part of the fallouts of the recently conducted parliamentary elections in Tunisia, its trade union, UGTT accused President Kais Saied of targeting it as a distraction from record-low election turnout.

The powerful union also accused president Saied of overseeing a “total failure” of economic policies.

The UGTT chief, Noureddine Taboubi at a meeting held at Gammarth to discuss the arrest of the union’s senior official Anis Kaabi earlier in the week said “the president is trying to divert attention from the record low election turnout in the first and second round of legislative elections and the utter failure of his economic and social decisions.”

Mr. Taboubi added: “Why is the UGTT a target?  Because [the authorities] want to pass the painful reforms they are always discussing.

“In order to pass these painful reforms, they need to distract the public with trivia by saying that the reason for this situation is the UGTT.”

The election, which was a second round of the Tunisian parliamentary polls held last Sunday with reports that nearly 90% of the electorate did not vote, making it the highest level of abstention since the 2011 revolution that toppled dictator Ben Ali and marked the advent of democracy in the country.

Voter turnout for the first round of the parliamentary elections in December was only 11%, prompting widespread ridicule among Saied’s opponents and new demands by the powerful labour union that he changes tack.

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South African police arrest 87 persons ahead of planned protest by opposition party, EFF

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Reports from South Africa on Monday morning say security forces have arrested 87 persons across the country over public violence ahead of planned protests by the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party.

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa labeled the planned national wide protest by members of the opposition party as an attempt to overthrow him.

The EFF called for a national shutdown to protest crippling power cuts and demand the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa. The party’s strong base consists of working-class Black South Africans who feel left out of the country’s prosperity since the governing African National Congress (ANC) ended white minority rule in 1994.

As reported by National intelligence body NatJOINTS, 41 people were arrested in Gauteng, including Pretoria and Johannesburg, 29 people were arrested in North West, and 15 people were arrested in Free State. Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape have also been arrested, according to NatJOINTS.

“Law enforcement officers are on high alert and will continue to prevent and combat any acts of criminality,” NatJOINTS said.

The country lately has had challenges with its electricity supply which has forced struggling state power company, Eskom to announce the previous series of power rotation arrangements.

Eskom has implemented scheduled electricity outages every day in 2023, with most households and businesses without power for up to 10 hours a day.

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South Africa to host Russia’s President Putin despite ICC ruling

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South Africa has insisted that it is not without knowledge of what is at stake ahead of a proposed visit by Vladimir Putin after an international court issued an arrest warrant against the Russian leader.

President Cyril Ramaphosa through his spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya on Sunday said it was aware of legal obligation as Russian President Putin is expected to visit South Africa in August to attend a BRICS summit.

In 2006, the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, and China met for the first time on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, marking the beginning of BRIC cooperation.

“We are, as the government, cognisant of our legal obligation. However, between now and the summit we will remain engaged with various relevant stakeholders,” spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said.

President Putin is expected to attend the 15th BRICS summit, as he did in 2013.

“We note the report on the warrant of arrest that the ICC has issued,” Magwenya said.

“It remains South Africa’s commitment and very strong desire that the conflict in Ukraine is resolved peacefully through negotiations.”

According to the International Court of Justice (ICC), President Putin is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of the population (children) and the unlawful transfer of the population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian-occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022.

There has been back and forth between the US and the global South, notably Russia and China over influence and relations with Africa.

Russian president, Vladimir Putin, plans to host the second Russia-Africa summit in July in St. Petersburg, an event intended to underline his attempts to curry favour in African nations after being shunned by the West over his invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

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