Tunisian prime minister promises economic, security reforms
The head of Tunisia’s government says the country will have a new investment code soon and that despite emergency measures to deal with terrorism, there is no going back to authoritarianism.
NEW YORK — Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid said Sept. 30 that his country will have a new investment code by the end of the year and will implement other reforms to overcome deep economic and security crises.
“We have many challenges,” Essid, a US-educated economist, told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations. “We need to have important reforms in many domains.”
Once the darling of democracy advocates for its inclusive political process following the overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, Tunisia has lately lost a bit of its luster.
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi responded to two gruesome terrorist attacks directed against foreign tourists earlier this year by declaring a state of emergency and implementing a draconian new law that prescribes the death penalty for vaguely defined terrorist crimes.
