Chahed to Run for Upcoming Presidential Elections

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed might be Long Live Tounes Party’s candidate for the next presidential election, said its founding member Salim al-Azabi.

He stressed that Chahed represents, in all cases, the political leader of this party, which was founded on January 27, 2018.

In a media statement, Azabi said that President Beji Caid Essebsi was invited to be a guest of honor at the Party’s founding conference.

He said Essebsi was also invited on April 6 to attend the opening session of Nidaa Tounes’s conference, the party that is headed by Hafez Caid Essebsi.

As for calling on Essebsi to lift the freeze on the Premier’s membership in Nida Tounes, Azabi explained that Chahed is now “the political leader of Long Live Tounes Party.”

On the other hand, Secretary General of Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) Noureddine Taboubi exchanged accusations and verbal attacks with French Ambassador to Tunisia Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, who was accused of preparing for the re-colonization of Tunisia.

D’Arvor, for his part, denied the charges and said in a media statement that these statements were not issued by him, describing them as “terrifying, absurd and totally irrational.”

“These statements are unreasonable and illusory,” he said, expressing great respect for the UGTT and stressing that the relationship between Tunisia and France is “very close and built on the great respect”.