UGTT Calls for a Roadmap to ‘Save’ Tunisia

UGTT Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi. (EPA)
UGTT Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi. (EPA)
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UGTT Calls for a Roadmap to ‘Save’ Tunisia

UGTT Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi. (EPA)
UGTT Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi. (EPA)

Tunisia's UGTT labor union called for the drafting of a roadmap to “save” the country from crisis after voters largely shunned last week’s legislative elections.

The elections lacked credibility and legitimacy because of the low turnout of voters, said UGTT Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi in a strongly-worded statement after a meeting of the executive bureau of the union on Wednesday.

Just 11.2 percent of voters cast ballots Saturday for a new parliament, which is the lowest turnout since the 2011 revolution that toppled late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and laid the foundation for a democratic regime, said the UGTT.

Only 1.025 million cast their votes out of 9 million registered voters.

The UGTT “notes the very low level of participation in the elections, which destroys their credibility and legitimacy and clearly confirms the public’s rejection” of President Kais Saied’s program, it said in a statement.

The current political situation “requires the UGTT to assume its national duty and take part, along with other national actors, in saving the country according to clear national goals and a solid roadmap”, it added.

The UGTT was one of four Tunisian organizations to jointly win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 for their contribution to the country’s democratic transition.

UGTT spokesman Sami Tahri said on the sidelines of the meeting that the government bears full responsibility for the deteriorating economic and social conditions in the country.



France Says State of Palestine Recognition ‘Goes Against’ Hamas 

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot addresses a joint press conference with the Ukrainian foreign minister after their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, 21 July 2025. (EPA)
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot addresses a joint press conference with the Ukrainian foreign minister after their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, 21 July 2025. (EPA)
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France Says State of Palestine Recognition ‘Goes Against’ Hamas 

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot addresses a joint press conference with the Ukrainian foreign minister after their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, 21 July 2025. (EPA)
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot addresses a joint press conference with the Ukrainian foreign minister after their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, 21 July 2025. (EPA)

France said on Friday that its plan to formally recognize a Palestinian state runs counter to the stance held by Palestinian group Hamas.

"Hamas has always ruled out a two-state solution. By recognizing Palestine, France goes against that terrorist organization," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X, a day after President Emmanuel Macron said France would recognize Palestinian statehood in September.

Hamas welcomed the president's announcement, calling it "a positive step in the right direction toward doing justice to our oppressed Palestinian people".

Israel said that the move "rewards terror", while the US called it "reckless".

But Barrot said in his X message that France, with its decision, was "backing the side of peace against the side of war".