Politics

Tunisian Islamist Party leader slammed with travel ban

Published

2 years ago

May 29, 2022

A court in Tunisia on Friday, slammed a travel ban on the leader of the moderate Islamist Ennahdha Party, Rachid Ghannouch, alongside 33 other party faithful under the suspicion of involvement in an alleged parallel security service put into place after the 2011 Tunisian revolution.

The travel bans were issued on the orders of Justice Minister Leila Jaffel, according to one of the court’s spokesperson.

Ghannouchi and the 33 others, according to the party in a statement on Saturday, have been targeted in an investigation into the alleged service dubbed the “secret apparatus,” which has been blamed by some for the still-unsolved murders of two leftist militants in 2013.

Spokeswoman for the court in Ariana, Fatma Bougottaya, claimed that the suspects had “illegally gained access to information concerning state institutions and allegedly shared it with someone with no legitimate reason to have it, which amounts to an abuse of power.”

Ghannouchi, who also headed the Tunisia’s parliament before it was suspended and then dissolved by Tunisian President Kais Saied, described the “so-called secret apparatus as pre-fabricated” and represents a “falsification of facts.”

He denounced what he calls “a deliberate operation” by authorities “with a goal of distracting the public from true problems” like the political and economic crisis and social problems in the North African country.

Ghannouchi, a staunch critic and adversary of the president, has continued to condemn the “exceptional and controversial measures taken by Saied last July 25 as a coup d’etat,” claiming the goal was to restore a dictatorship in Tunisia.

The Tunisian President has come under severe criticism after he dissolved the parliament, disbanded the electoral commission and conferred on himself sweeping powers.

Apart from dissolving the parliament, Saied had also fired the Prime Minister and gave himself the power to rule by decree, claiming the measures were needed to “save the country from imminent peril” and fight widespread corruption.

Saied has also laid out a roadmap that foresees organizing a referendum on July 25 on political reforms to amend the constitution, then holding a parliamentary election on December 17.

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Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

14 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

Published

2 days ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.