Political situation in Tunisia | Canada in favor of another postponement of the Francophonie Summit

(Ottawa) Canada is quietly campaigning to postpone again the Francophonie Summit, which is due to take place in November in Tunisia, due to the political situation in that country, learned The Press.

Melanie Marquis
The Press

Joel-Denis Bellavance
The Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been trying for a few weeks to convince allies like France that a new postponement of this summit, which was to take place last fall, is necessary. According to our information, Mr. Trudeau raised this possibility privately with French President Emmanuel Macron during the last G7 Summit in June in Germany.

Originally, the Francophonie Summit was to take place in Tunis in 2020, but it was postponed for the first time due to the pandemic. It was also then decided that the meeting would take place outside the capital, i.e. on the Tunisian island of Djerba, in November 2021. But a month before the meeting, the members of the Permanent Council of La Francophonie (CPF) opted for a second postponement, this time invoking the pandemic and the political crisis caused by the changes adopted which give more powers to President Kaïs Saïed.

Justin Trudeau believes that the situation remains worrying in Tunisia and that this justifies the postponement of the summit. This issue could again be addressed during President Macron’s official visit to Canada, scheduled for early September.

Important cleavage

Faced with an economic crisis that has been aggravated by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, Tunisia has been very divided since Mr. Saïed, democratically elected in 2019, seized all powers on July 25, 2021 on the grounds that the country had become ungovernable.

Since then, the president has had a new Constitution adopted granting him vast prerogatives which, according to opponents, risk endangering Tunisia’s young democracy. The new Constitution was endorsed by referendum last week by a majority of 94.6%, but turnout was very low, around 30%.

The United States has been critical of the exercise, judging that “the new Constitution includes weakened checks and balances, which could compromise the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”, according to the US State Department.

The office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, refrained from confirming Canada’s intentions, limiting itself to pointing out that the country’s presence would be confirmed “in due time, as is the case for all summits,” and that Ottawa was working with its international partners to defend “democracies around the world.

Regarding the referendum, the Government of Canada “took note of the preliminary results,” added in a statement Adrien Blanchard, press secretary for Ms.^me Pretty. The latter, he noted, conveyed “Canada’s concerns” to her counterpart in Tunisia.

“Respect for democratic principles”

During her discussion with Minister Othman Jerandi last Wednesday, Mélanie Joly spoke of “respect for democratic principles”, and expressed “the importance of holding legislative elections and restoring an elected and representative government as soon as possible”.

According to political scientist Sami Aoun, a postponement of the Francophonie Summit would be desirable. And there is no need to use, like last year, the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to justify this decision.

“There is a problem of transition between the poor performance of the Muslim Brotherhood of the Ennahdha party in power and the reply of Kais Saïed, who can also be described as authoritarian,” notes Mr. Aoun.

Former Secretary General of the Intergovernmental Agency of La Francophonie, which has since become the International Organization of La Francophonie, Louis Roy made a plea in favor of postponing the summit in a letter published in The dutyin October 2021.

Because President Saïed, like other “usurpers of power” have done before him (Mali, Guinea-Conakry), has “overthrown an elected government”, and in the absence of a condemnation, “the commitment of La Francophonie in favor of democracy will appear as a decoy,” he wrote. “To avoid a missed act which the Francophonie does not have the means, this summit must be postponed, and the reasons for this postponement clearly mentioned”, he concluded.

The Canadian government is advising travelers heading to Tunisia to “exercise a high degree of caution” due to “political, social and economic tensions” that have led to “civil unrest across the country.” The city of Djerba is however not mentioned among the dangerous areas.