Youssef Chahed, Minister of Local Affairs speaks about the government’s willingness to ensure the impartiality and transparency of the upcoming municipal elections, amidst its current problems and believes that criticism of the government has been too harsh.
Youssef Chahed, what actions have you taken to ensure the impartiality of the municipal elections scheduled next March?
Youssef Chahed, Minister of Local Affairs speaks about the government’s willingness to ensure the impartiality and transparency of the upcoming municipal elections, amidst its current problems and believes that criticism of the government has been too harsh.
Youssef Chahed, what actions have you taken to ensure the impartiality of the municipal elections scheduled next March?
In Tunis, there are currently 289 municipalities, including 100 temporary special municipal delegations run by some delegates and representatives of local administrations, an action taken by the post-revolution governments until the municipal elections are held. As the elections are approaching, we have considered neutralizing municipalities with a view to resolve all special delegations that have temporarily managed municipal affairs since the time of the Troika Government before the election and have replaced them by other delegations headed by the delegates themselves.
A major part of the delegates have partisan loyalties and are pushed by political parties to assume such tasks?
The delegates may not run for municipal elections. We, as a ministry charged with ensuring impartiality, chose this solution to ensure the highest possible impartiality. If we allow the municipal delegations to work with the same structure until the municipal elections, we cannot prevent the legal nomination of their members, which will affect impartiality. Therefore, we intend to resolve the special municipal delegations.
Municipalities and special municipal delegations are facing scathing criticism by citizens due to poor performance. What is your opinion?
That is right. There is a lot of griping about the performance of the municipal councils and special delegations. Therefore, we seek to accelerate the municipal elections and focus on elected municipal councils with clear powers and reasonable financial resources to increase the local authority’s capacity to manage public affairs. Waiting for the election, we follow-up the daily performance of the municipalities in the entire country and will resolve all the municipalities that have violations, especially at the level of management, misconduct and lack of a quorum, in addition to many growing problems, such as waste, stray dogs and informal settlements, etc.
The problem of garbage in the country has become unbearable. Is it beyond the municipalities’ competence?
The fundamental problem in Tunisia is not hygiene, but the provision of landfills. In Tunis, the municipality collects about 3,000 tons of wastes every day but does not find a suitable place for disposal. Two thousand tons go to equipped areas, such as recycling centers and satiate dumpsites, and municipalities discharge nearly 1,000 tons at random landfills, which attract stray dogs and cause the spread of insects and an unpleasant smell.
You are a leader in the Nidaa Tounes movement and working in the government of el-Habib Essid, whom your party demanded to step down. How do you view the issue?
Today, there is a government and we will continue to work within it until another one comes. There are currently rumors about government members, but we continue working and attending councils of ministers and do our job normally inside and outside our offices. In fact, some journalists have fueled the situation through misrepresentation of some statements or through false information. They said, for example, that Nidaa Tounes voted for a candidate from the movement to hold the post of Prime Minister, which is not true.
Are you really among the candidates for prime minister?
I have denied this on several occasions. Today, I work in the current government and honestly do not know about the leaked names. If the prime minister will be changed, this will occur in accordance with the Constitution.
What about the security situation in Tunisia given the sensitivity of the current period?
The security situation has improved, which is evidenced in Ben Guerdane operation, where the readiness of the security units is visible. Unfortunately, this is not attributed to the government. Many people greet the security and military institutions only and blame the government for failures. Security successes and improvements this year are the result of the policy of the state and government in allocating huge funds for security and military institutions, and the performance in Ben Guerdane was a good example that these allocations have enabled us to achieve many security successes. Nevertheless, the situation remains difficult, especially in Ramadan.
How do you evaluate the performance of Habib Essid government?
Indeed, the government has worked under very difficult circumstances and relies greatly on the administration, which is unfortunately no longer as productive as it was in the past. Some departments have been politicized in recent years, which has affected the administration’s efficiency and neutrality.
This government came under hard circumstances. It inherited difficult financial balances and due loans, which impacted on the general situation of the country. Yet, the government sought to address the situation, moving many projects and implementing important reforms, especially in the banking and collection sectors.
What about the president’s initiative to form a national unity government?
The current government lacks political support, especially by the government’s coalition parties. Hence, the president’s initiative came to gain political support beyond all parties and organizations. The burden has become so heavy and efforts should be concerted to meet the expectations of citizens, particularly at the economic and social levels, because people feel frustrated in these two areas.
