No one, inside or outside Tunisia, argues that the country is going through an escalating crisis that has so far been difficult to resolve. The reason for the intractability is partly due to a difference between the elites, whether in power or the opposition, in diagnosing the crisis and how to get out of it.

In this regard, the Tunisian General Labor Union is trying to keep a distance with everyone, denouncing the situation and calling for a search for a road map to get out of the bottleneck, as the Transport Union of the Tunisian General Labor Union decided to enter into a general strike on January 25 and 26 next.

The union accuses the Tunisian government of seeking to privatize public transport institutions, while the authorities deny this.

Trade union leaders have escalated their criticism of President Said's policies, amid calls from the opposition for early presidential elections.

However, what is striking recently is the escalation of criticism by trade union leaders of President Saied's policies, as they said that the situation has reached the point of rot, and that the presidency did not pick up on the message of Tunisians' reluctance to vote in the recent legislative elections.

a critical stage

Regarding the significance of this trade union escalation, lawyer and law researcher Qaisar Al-Sayyah indicated - in his interview with the "Beyond the News" program (28/12/2022) - that the general strike is a complete paralysis of the state's economy in a period in which the country is going through a critical stage, political slippage and decline. Economically, it has not seen anything like it for 30 years.

He also considered that Tunisia had entered the stage of maximum danger, and was classified in the black list in terms of its ability to borrow, and therefore the union was supposed to demand other approaches to dialogue, reunification, and a departure from the old road map that did not provide any satisfactory result for Tunisia, at a time when it rejects Head of state no dialogue.

For his part, Sabri Zghidi, a journalist at Al-Shaab newspaper affiliated with the Tunisian General Labor Union, said that the strike is not a goal in itself, but rather a means that the union structures of the various work sectors are obliged to use in order to put pressure on the government party to sit at the negotiating table and seriously discuss a solution to its professional and social demands. .

As for the transport sector, it has long been hinting at an escalation, and calls on the Ministry of Transport to sit down to negotiate, fulfill its demands, and discuss the challenges of the transport sector, which is supposed to be a pillar of the national economy.

In turn, a member of the executive body of the Salvation Front, Riyad Al-Shuaibi, explained that the decisions of the General Labor Union are sovereign, as the unions take their decisions in isolation from the orientations of the political parties.

However, the comprehensive crisis and deterioration in all sectors is what prompted Tunisians to take to the streets - whether through unions to protest against their difficult sectoral conditions or the protests of political forces - to protest the significant decline in the field of freedoms, human rights and the democratic path.

struck the unity of the country

On the other hand, President Saied insists on his approach, stressing that the Tunisians are going ahead with their electoral dates, and stressing that the country needs a kind of what he called political liquidation, saying that insulting the state and its symbols is not a matter of freedom of expression, but rather rises to the level of harming its security and striking its unity, according to His saying.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Naglaa Boden, Saeed indicated that democracy must be practiced within state institutions, and that it cannot be directed against its existence and unity.

He added that whoever plays the role of the victim today is the one who struck the state and tried in every way to dismantle its institutions, and that he cannot present himself as a savior, as he put it.

In turn, the Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labor Union, Noureddine Taboubi, warned that Tunisia is ahead of what he said is a "social flood," stressing that the crisis in Tunisia is political par excellence.

Al-Taboubi added that the goal remains to find an initiative to get Tunisia out of the impasse in which it has fallen, and that consultation remains open to all national organizations that have independence and the ability to tell the truth.

Since July 25, 2021, Tunisia has been experiencing economic and social political crises, in parallel with exceptional measures imposed by the country's President Saeed, including the dissolution of the Judicial Council and Parliament, the issuance of legislation by presidential decrees, the passage of a new constitution, and the holding of early legislative elections.