Today's Edition
AHMED ATEF (TUNIS, CAIRO)
Experts and political analysts underscored that President Kais Saied’s reform agenda, aimed at purging Tunisian institutions of corrupt individuals, requires several components to be effective. Chief among these is the need to revise laws that corrupt individuals have exploited for personal gain at the nation’s expense.
Dr. Rida Al-Shakandali, an economics professor at a Tunisian university, noted that merely monitoring and stopping those involved in corruption is insufficient, stressing the urgent need for substantial legal amendments.
Speaking to Aletihad, Al-Shakandali pointed out that corrupt individuals in Tunisia have gained significant financial advantages by circumventing the law, within a rent-based economic system that unfairly privileges certain groups.
He called for an immediate end to the expansion of corrupt practices, noting that their continuation equates to the systematic looting of public funds, thereby obstructing access to competitive or export-oriented investment opportunities and complicating the Tunisian economy.
Tunisian political analyst Bassel Turgeman remarked that the challenges faced by Tunisia in its economic reform programme and anti-corruption efforts are anticipated and not surprising. He referred to a “decade of ruin” that fostered the creation of groups within state institutions linked to corrupt systems.
In a statement to Aletihad, Turgeman noted that beneficiaries and corrupt individuals have amassed wealth, estimated in the tens of millions of Tunisian dinars, through corruption and connections with these lobbies.
The Tunisian president previously estimated the funds recovered from corrupt businessmen at about 13.5 billion Tunisian dinars (approximately $4.5 billion), intending to use these funds for the development of impoverished regions through restorative justice laws.
Turgeman emphasised that successfully combatting corruption is crucial to saving Tunisia and setting it on a solid economic and developmental course. He acknowledged significant challenges, including local issues and global conditions like COVID-19, the Ukraine crisis, and the Gaza conflict.
Despite these crises, Turgeman highlighted the Tunisian people’s resolve to support the reform project, aimed at freeing the country from those who have exploited the economy for personal interests.
Additionally, Tunisian political analyst Monther Thabet noted successes in fund recovery without resorting to extensive security operations, as seen in other countries. This, he suggests, indicates respect for property preservation in Tunisia, marking a positive step in recovering funds.
Speaking to Aletihad, Thabet asserted that the current focus is on developing governance systems to prevent corruption, transforming the issue into one of pressuring and excluding corrupt individuals, along with tackling direct political employment.
