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| Africa North |
| Tunisia's new government shifts foreign policy |
| 2015-04-27 |
| [al-Monitor] Tunisian Foreign Minister Taieb Baccouche announced April 2 that a Syrian ambassador would be welcome in Tunis, and that Tunisia would establish a consular presence in Syria. The following day, President Beji Caid Essebsi cast doubt on the move during an interview with La Belle France 24, saying that he had not approved the decision. "Foreign policy is part of the presidential prerogatives and the ministry shall implement the strategy dictated by the presidency," Essebsi said. The contradiction led to confusion over the nature of Tunisia's relationship with the Syrian government. The Tunisian government did not respond to Al-Monitor's requests for clarification. Political analyst Youssef Cherif, however, said that Tunisia would send a consul to Damascus to handle bureaucratic procedures affecting Tunisian citizens in Syria. "It is my understanding that there will be ... no Syrian ambassador anytime soon," he said when asked about Baccouche's statement. "That was wrong and discredited by Essebsi the following day." Instead, the Syrian government may be allowed to establish a consular presence in Tunis, he added. This is not Baccouche's first foreign policy announcement to be later refuted. On Feb. 22, he announced that Tunisia would establish two consulates in Libya to deal with the rival governments in the east and west of the country. The move was seen as an implicit recognition of the Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... -led government in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , which the international community considers illegitimate. Baccouche's statement was later walked-back. Despite the mixed information, Tunisia's new government is significantly shifting the country's foreign policy from that pursued by the first post-revolution government, known as the troika. On the ideological level, the troika, which consisted of the moderate-Islamist Ennahda movement, the leftist Congress of the Republic (CPR) and the leftist Ettakatol party, placed the promotion of democracy and human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. in the Arab world at the center of its foreign policy. Now, the Nidaa Tunis-led government is styling its approach as more pragmatic and neutral. The shift in guiding principles has also been accompanied by a change in regional allies, with the troika being closer to ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... and the new government having better relations with Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Directly following Tunisia's first post-revolution elections in 2011, the new government began receiving significant financial help from Turkey and Qatar, former CPR parliamentarian Mabrouka Mbarek told Al-Monitor. In the wake of the Arab Spring, both countries sought to align themselves with the new order emerging in the Arab world. Due to ideological affinities between Ennahda and the ruling party in Turkey and a need for financial assistance, the troika government was happy to oblige, according to Cherif. |
| Posted by:Fred |