Tunisia’s Decentralization Process at a Crossroads

Without a new decentralizing framework, elections for new local councils in Tunisia will not make them more responsive to local concerns. Shafik Sarsar’s resignation as head of Tunisia’s Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) on May 9, together with two other board members, cast the authority’s decision to hold the next municipal elections on December 17, 2017 into further doubt. After delaying it twice, ISIE was able to finalize the date—a reference to the start of Tunisia’s 2011 revolution—after the long-awaited Law on Local and Regional Elections was adopted on…

Tunisian PM vows to fight graft in the country

Tunisian prime minister has declared war against graft in the country. Youssef Chahed said on Wednesday that the government will “see the war through the end and there’s no choice.” “I want to reassure all Tunisians that the government will see this war on corruption through to the end, I ask all Tunisians to be united and work together for Tunisia,” he added. “I want to reassure all Tunisians that the government will see this war on corruption through to the end” He was speaking after the arrest of three…

Will the Manchester bombing put tourists off visiting the UK?

efore the horrific events of Monday night unfolded in Manchester, the UK had scarcely seemed more appealing to foreign tourists. Many overseas visitors had been taking advantage of the weak pound – a result of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union – which allowed them to enjoy greater spending power in a country that had for a long time been prohibitively expensive. Figures released last week pointed to a big increase in arrivals since the drop of the sterling. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in 2016…

Tunisia is less fragile than Turkey and Morocco (Study)

Tunisia ranks 89th out of a total of 178 countries, from the most to the least fragile in the annual Fragile States Index, established by the US think tank the Fund for Peace. It is a better place than last year (88th and 86th in 2015). With an overall score of 74.2 points, Tunisia is considered to be less fragile than Egypt (36th), Turkey (64th) and Libya (23rd), Syria (5th), Algeria (77th) and Morocco (84th). According to the same source, the least fragile countries are: Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Finland……