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Proposal of Tunisia ‘Government of Competencies’ Turned down by Key Parties

People walk past municipal elections posters in Tunis. (Reuters)
People walk past municipal elections posters in Tunis. (Reuters)
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Proposal of Tunisia ‘Government of Competencies’ Turned down by Key Parties

People walk past municipal elections posters in Tunis. (Reuters)
People walk past municipal elections posters in Tunis. (Reuters)

Tunisia's Prime Minister-designate Hichem Mechichi continued on Thursday his political consultations to form a new government, but failed to reach any progress with blocs representing key parties in the parliament. These parties, which emerged victorious in the last parliamentary elections, are insisting on the formation of a political government that takes into account the results of the 2019 polls.

Parliament Speaker and head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi is a main supporter of the proposal. However, smaller parties back the formation of an independent government of competencies, which observers say will allow them to participate in the government coalition.

Other parties, such as the Heart of Tunisia, People's Movement and Democratic Current, will be harmed by such a government seeing as they were elected to rule and implement their electoral programs. They therefore, view a government of competencies as a “clear coup” against the electoral results and one that is loyal to President Kais Saied.

The Free Destourian Party and National Reform, each boasting 16 MPs, National Bloc, with 11 MPs, and Tahya Tounes, with 14 MPs, endorse an independent government. On the other side of the divide, are the Ennahda (54 MPs), Democratic Current (38 MPs), Heart of Tunisia (27 MPs) and Dignity Coalition (19 MPs), who reject a government of competencies. They represent the majority at parliament and can reject Mechichi’s government lineup when it is presented to a vote at the legislature.

As part of his consultations on Thursday, the PM-designate met with heads of organizations and associations, as well as President of the Supreme Judicial Council Youssef Bouzakher, Chairman of the Bar of Association Ibrahim Bouderbala, President of the Association of Tunisian Judges Anas Hamadi, and General Secretary of the Union of Tunisian Judges Amira al-Amri.

Bouderbala said the political class must reach consensus over the nation’s common interest. He said the “delicate” situation demands that everyone agree on a number of common goals to “save Tunisia.”

Former PM and head of Tahya Tounes, Youssef Chahed urged parties to parties to accept the formation of a government that excludes them. He predicted that they will reach an agreement over a cabinet lineup proposed by Mechichi.

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US Tracking Nearly 500 Incidents of Civilian Harm During Israel’s Gaza War

People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Tracking Nearly 500 Incidents of Civilian Harm During Israel’s Gaza War

People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)

US State Department officials have identified nearly 500 potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel's military operations in Gaza involving US-furnished weapons, but have not taken further action on any of them, three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter, said this week.

The incidents - some of which might have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources - have been recorded since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Gaza war started. They are being collected by the State Department's Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance, a formal mechanism for tracking and assessing any reported misuse of US-origin weapons.

State Department officials gathered the incidents from public and non-public sources, including media reporting, civil society groups and foreign government contacts.

The mechanism, which was established in August 2023 to be applied to all countries that receive US arms, has three stages: incident analysis, policy impact assessment, and coordinated department action, according to a December internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters.

None of the Gaza cases had yet reached the third stage of action, said a former US official familiar with the matter. Options, the former official said, could range from working with Israel's government to help mitigate harm, to suspending existing arms export licenses or withholding future approvals.

The Washington Post first reported the nearly 500 incidents on Wednesday.

The Biden administration has said it is reasonable to assess that Israel has breached international law in the conflict, but assessing individual incidents was "very difficult work," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday.

"We are conducting those investigations, and we are conducting them thoroughly, and we are conducting them aggressively, but we want to get to the right answer, and it's important that we not jump to a pre-ordained result, and that we not skip any of the work," Miller said, adding that Washington consistently raises concerns over civilian harm with Israel.

The administration of President Joe Biden has long said it is yet to definitively assess an incident in which Israel has violated international humanitarian law during its operation in Gaza.

John Ramming Chappell, advocacy and legal adviser at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, said the Biden administration "has consistently deferred to Israeli authorities and declined to do its own investigations."

"The US government hasn't done nearly enough to investigate how the Israeli military uses weapons made in the United States and paid for by US taxpayers," he said.

The civilian harm process does not only look at potential violations of international law but at any incident where civilians are killed or injured and where US arms are implicated, and looks at whether this could have been avoided or reduced, said one US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A review of an incident can lead to a recommendation that a unit needs more training or different equipment, as well as more severe consequences, the official said.

Israel's military conduct has come under increasing scrutiny as its forces have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the enclave's health authorities.

The latest episode of bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.