Protests Erupt in Tunisia Demanding Activation of Law 38

Protests in Tunis (AFP)
Protests in Tunis (AFP)
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Protests Erupt in Tunisia Demanding Activation of Law 38

Protests in Tunis (AFP)
Protests in Tunis (AFP)

Hundreds of Tunisian university graduates and unemployed youth marched in protests all over the country rejecting the decision of President Kais Saied to revoke Law 38, related to exceptional provisions for assignment in the government sector.

Angry protesters chanted against the President's decision, stressing that his rejection of the law, which Saied himself approved and ordered its publication in the official gazette, “is killing our dreams.”

Law 38, issued on 13 August 2020, is related to exceptional provisions for assignment in the government sector for those whose unemployment exceeds ten years.

However, the President proposed a different employment method, through private companies, because the state is no longer able to employ public servants.

Activist Ashwaq al-Ajlani said that Law 38 is a "red line" because it affects marginalized graduates, whose hopes, dreams, and lives have been lost.

They are demanding their right to be assigned to public office, Ajlani noted, adding that some university graduates have been unemployed for over ten years.

She asserted that the protests would continue until they attain their demands, calling on the President to reverse his decision.

In the same context, Hana Bouras said that her meeting with the President came after months of suffering and sit-ins, especially in the Kasbah and near the Carthage Palace.

Saied met with a group of unemployed youth who have been left without a job for over ten years.

Bouras said that they asked the President to “gradually” implement the law in the public service, taking into account the capabilities of the state. But the President said “forget about the public service.”

President Saied had considered that Law 38 was set up as a tool for governance and to contain the public's anger, noting that it was not applicable.



Lebanon's Parliament Renews Army Chief's Term in First Session after Ceasefire

Lebanese policeman stand outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 17, 2017. (Reuters)
Lebanese policeman stand outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 17, 2017. (Reuters)
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Lebanon's Parliament Renews Army Chief's Term in First Session after Ceasefire

Lebanese policeman stand outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 17, 2017. (Reuters)
Lebanese policeman stand outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon October 17, 2017. (Reuters)

Lebanon's parliament Thursday renewed the term of army chief Joseph Aoun, who is seen as a potential presidential candidate in next year's vote.

The parliament has seldom met since Israel’s war with Hezbollah began 14 months ago, and has not convened to try to elect a president since June 2023, leaving the country in a political gridlock.

Thursday’s session is the first since a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday which has left the Lebanese military responsible for ensuring Hezbollah fighters leave the country's south and its facilities dismantled. The army is expected to receive international aid to help deploy troops to deploy in the south to exert full state control there, The AP reported.

Gen. Joseph Aoun is seen as a likely presidential candidate due to his close relationship with the international community and his hold on an institution that is seen as a rare point of unity in the country facing political and sectarian tensions. Lebanon has been without a president since Oct. 31, 2022.

It is unclear whether the decision to renew Aoun's term will impact his chances as Lebanon's next president.

Hezbollah and some of its key allies and their legislators have been skeptical of a Aoun presidency due to his close relationship with Washington.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who spearheaded negotiations with the United States to end the war, also called for parliament to convene on Jan. 9, 2025 to elect a president, the first attempt in almost 19 months.

French special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, tasked by French President Emmanuel Macron with helping Lebanon break its political deadlock, observed the session before meeting with Berri and later caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Berri, in an address Wednesday, urged political parties to pick a president that will bring Lebanon's rival groups together, in a bid to keep the war-torn and financially battered country from further deteriorating amid fears of internal political tensions between Hezbollah and its political opponents following the war.

The militant group's opponents, who believe Hezbollah should be completely disarmed, are furious that it made the unilateral decision to go to war with Israel in solidarity with its ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip.