Tunisian judges organized a protest in front of the Palace of Justice in Tunis to demand the abolition of the presidential decree dismissing 57 judges from their duties, while the General Labor Union rejected what it called drawing the people's choices outside constitutional frameworks.

The protesters raised slogans calling for the independence of the judiciary, and rejected what they described as the judiciary's instructions.

Tunisian judges have been on strike for 3 weeks, to protest against the aforementioned presidential decree, and to demand a retraction of it and the opening of a dialogue with the Presidency of the Republic.

The head of the Tunisian Judges Association, Anas Al-Hammadi, said that the judges are standing today in a state of anger;

To protest against the President of the Republic's implementation of what he called a "judicial massacre".

In the same context, the Ennahda movement condemned what it called attempts to involve its leaders in cases that were dealt with by the Tunisian judiciary and whose investigations have ended, accusing the authorities of "trying to give false legitimacy through the farce of a fabricated referendum with known results and lacking legitimacy."

On the other hand, the Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labor Union, Noureddine Taboubi, said that the government that was appointed through presidential decrees does not have the right to draw the choices of the Tunisian people outside the constitutional frameworks.

Participation rate

Taboubi called on the Tunisian president to issue a decree specifying the percentage of participation in the referendum to approve or reject its results, provided that this percentage be more than 50% of the voters, to ensure that the result is representative of the people.

Al-Taboubi expressed - in a press statement - his rejection of the conditions of the International Fund, in light of the low wages and the high rate of poverty and unemployment.

Tunisia held preliminary discussions with the International Corporation to obtain a new loan, to save its economy, which is ravaged by high unemployment (16.1%), inflation (in the range of 7.8%) and a large public debt.

The union's refusal would complicate matters and increase pressure on the Tunisian president, who is preparing for a popular referendum to amend the 2014 constitution, amid a tense political climate.

Tunisia requested a 4 billion euro loan from the fund in exchange for reforms, but observers estimate that it will not be able to get more than 2 billion euros.