Nobody would have ever expected that Mahdi Jumaa, a relatively unknown Minister of Industry in the Larayedh Islamic government, would rise to such high ranks in the remaining transitional period.
Yet on January 28, a majority in the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) elected the 51-year-old Jumaa to lead the country’s path towards its legislative and presidential elections slated for the end of 2014.
“The mission will not be an easy one,” said Jumaa, of the challenges that face him.
Nobody would have ever expected that Mahdi Jumaa, a relatively unknown Minister of Industry in the Larayedh Islamic government, would rise to such high ranks in the remaining transitional period.
Yet on January 28, a majority in the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) elected the 51-year-old Jumaa to lead the country’s path towards its legislative and presidential elections slated for the end of 2014.
“The mission will not be an easy one,” said Jumaa, of the challenges that face him.
For starters, Jumaa has a short amount of time to deal with the security quagmire, which has exhausted the successive governments since the overthrow of Ben Ali’s regime. Violence in the country continued to rise after the revolution as well as acts of riots, sabotage, political assassinations and terrorism.
If the country cannot reach stability it can’t guarantee the success of elections and the country’s recovery at all levels. When the ruling troika was leading the country, violence erupted and plagued the country and thus tourists became reluctant to visit Tunisia as well as did investors.
Security a major hurdle
“Reaching the elections’ stage is one of the most important priorities of the government,” he said “but it is important to create special security conditions and now we are constantly working to improve the security in the country.”
For this reason, Jumaa has insisted on the presence of Lutfi Ben Jeddo, the Interior Minister of Larayedh’s government, despite the fact that there are many other political opposition forces against Jeddo. Nevertheless, Jeddo has the advantage of information and experience about the goings on inside the security ministry, which has been considered the most mysterious ministry in Tunisia over the past decades.
Mohamed Al Qoumani, the Secretary General of the Reform and Development Party, believes that the most important task of the new government is to prepare, as soon as possible, for safe elections.
“To be able to do so, it should be capable of creating a proper and adequate security, social and political conditions by putting an end to terrorism and lawlessness,” he said. “The new government should lay the foundations for the success, which is going to replace it in order to bring the country out of its very critical situation.”
Al Qoumani told Correspondents that the solution to the security issue requires the dissolution of the Leagues for the Protection of the Revolution if the government wants to create sound grounds for fair elections whose integrity cannot be questioned.
Election supervisory board
A commission has already been formed to supervise the elections and it is headed by a law professor known for his proficiency and independence. It is for this reason that he gained the respect and support of all political forces in the country. However, his duties will only be procedural and simple given that the success of the elections is to a large extent linked to the prevailing security conditions in the country.
Hamza Hamza, a member of the Ennahda Movement’s Shura Council, shares with Al Qoumani the same opinions regarding security and elections issues. “The new government should first prepare for elections and succeed in this endeavour. It should also work on the security and stability file and ensure that the country regains its stable conditions because this is the only way to protect the national economy and restore the confidence of foreign investors.”
Urgent economic solutions are needed
The extremely difficult economic conditions of the country are also among the main tasks of the new government headed by Ben Jumaa despite the very short period he’ll be in power. The deficit in the balance of payments has already reached 8%, which means that the state treasury is almost empty.
Moreover, the inflation rate has reached 6% and this is affecting prices of goods, which are rapidly increasing. Economic experts say that this rate should not exceed 3%. In addition to these economic troubles, the country’s reserve of foreign currencies has declined.
Hussein al-Dimassi, an economist, told Correspondents that “the government of Mahdi Ben Jumaa does not have many choices other than getting a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a loan which has been suspended because of the absence of stable security conditions, according to a report issued earlier by this financial institution.
Many government sources as well as some experts and Tunisian economic analysts are expecting that IMF will give Tunisia a green light and to pay the second instalment of the loan, which the Ali Larayedh’s government kept waiting for but did not receive because of the political crisis in the country.
Since the ratification of the Constitution and the formation of a new government IMF accepted to give Tunisia a loan on January 29, in the amount of US $500 million.
The way out of the economic deterioration, even if only on the qualitative level, according to Dimassi, is much linked to reaching solutions regarding the current security conditions in the country in order to encourage investors inside and outside Tunisia. Dimassi believes that it is very important to improve international organizations’ rating of Tunisia, which has seen a steady decline because of the deterioration in the security conditions and terrorism.
If Jumaa can tackle these obstacles, he might stand a chance at bringing fair and transparent elections. He already has the people’s confidence on his side—according to an opinion poll conducted by Sigma Conseil Agency people’s optimism about the success of Mahdi’s government is at 60.6%.
