TICAD8: Eliciting waves of outrage among Tunisian politicians, unionists, officials against President’s move

Voices were raised in Tunisia to denounce the decision of Kaïs Saïed to invite the leader of the Polisario to TICAD8. The move, described by Morocco as “hostile” and “unprecedented”, has aroused the indignation of several personalities in the Tunisian political landscape who denounce a “dangerous reversal” on the diplomatic level, to the detriment of the privileged and fraternal relations existing between the two Maghreb countries.

In this connection, the president of the Al Majd party, Abdel Wahab Hani, described this act as a “dangerous change” vis-à-vis the constants of Tunisian diplomacy.

This act will undoubtedly “expose the supreme interests of Tunisia and its credibility to great difficulties”, warned Hani on his facebook page, calling the move “political suicide”.

The civil society activist Abdel Wahab Hani also wondered about the reasons behind the treatment with great fanfare reserved for the chief of the separatist entity, while other “brother” African heads of state were not welcomed by Kaïs Saïed at their arrival at Tunis airport.

“The Tunisian president limited himself to dispatching the head of government, who welcomed the guests in an icy atmosphere, without being entitled to the official welcoming ceremony,” Hani noted.

For his part, Mohamed Lassaad Abid, Secretary General of the Tunisian Labor Organization (OTT), described President Saied’s move to receive the leader of the Polisario militia as “incomprehensible”, a “political stupidity” and an unprecedented political suicide of Tunisian diplomacy that will lead to an isolation of Tunisia at the “Arab”, “African” and “international” levels.

He deplored the official reception reserved by the President for a group that only a few recognize and in dark corners, pointing out that Libya’s “Gaddafi and former presidents of Algeria did not do it publicly.”

In the post on his Facebook page Saturday, the unionist apologized to Moroccans saying “I offer a thousand apologies as Tunisia is much obliged to the Moroccan people.”

Lassaad Abid, who underlining the historically good Morocco-Tunisia ties and Morocco’s historical role in promoting solidarity and shared prosperity in the Maghreb region, said that Morocco was “among the first to stand with us in the plight of Covid 19 and in the tourism crisis.”

“I am a labor unionist, son of a unionist. I cannot forget the Moroccan people’s participation in the largest demonstration in the history of the Great Arab Maghreb to denounce the assassination of the great union fighter Farhat Hached in 1952.”

On the Sahara dispute, the unionist said “Western Sahara is a Moroccan issue and we have no right to interfere in the internal affairs of any country.”

Addressing the Tunisian President in his post, the unionist further denounced his decision to invite and host the Polisario leader. “Who commissioned you to recognize a splinter group against the Moroccan state,” he asked rhetorically, describing again the move as “a foolish decision.”

In this vein, former Tunisian diplomat Elyes Kasri strongly denounced the President’s act, which marks a break by Tunisia of its policy of balance between its two neighbors, Morocco and Algeria.

Through this act, “Tunisia breaks with its policy of balance between its two Maghreb neighbors and aligns itself with Algeria against Morocco, which has not hidden its discontent,” said the former senior official of the Tunisian Foreign Ministry.

In a post on his Facebook page, Kasri explained that “unfortunately, the Tunisian political and diplomatic leadership has preferred to be inspired by the Japanese technique of hara-kiri by granting the [polisario] delegation an unusual welcome, which many African delegations did not receive.”

“We could have expected a better transfer of technology and know-how through closer cooperation with Japan by hosting the TICAD 8 summit,” said the former Tunisian ambassador to Seoul, New Delhi, Tokyo and Berlin, expressing fear that the president’s initiatives would plunge Tunisia in further isolation on the international scene.

Part of the wave of anger in Tunisia against the President’s act, Secretary General of “Democratic Current” Ghazi Chaouachi stressed that his country’s attitude reflects “improvisation” and “incompetence” and a lack of clear vision in diplomatic relations.

“What is the polisario in an economic summit that brings together African countries with Japan, especially since the latter does not recognize the separatist entity,” said the former minister, on social networks.