Interim PM Essebsi announces series of security decisions

Interim Prime Minister Béji Caïd Essebsi announced on Tuesday, during a news conference held in Tunis, a series of decisions aimed to re-establish security in the country, following the outbreak of violence in some regions. These decisions aim to ban meetings likely to harm the national security and give the Interior Minister the power to place under house arrest anyone who dares to undermine the national stability. These decisions also include giving to the governors all the necessary prerogatives in accordance with the emergency state decreed in the country, to consecrate the primacy of law in front of any possible security drift. In the speech he delivered to the Tunisian people, Mr. Béji Caïd Essebsi specified that the government "does not tolerate these practices" which, he said, risk to paralyse the daily life of the Tunisians, such as blocking of roads, attacking police stations and sovereign authorities' premises and the aggression of the security forces and the National Army. Interim PM said that the referendum "to which had called recently several parties, is not just the prerogatives of the transitional government." He added that the organisation of a referendum could be the focus of a consultation between the parties present on the national political scene: the caretaker President, the national parties, the High Authority for the Achievement of the Revolution, Political Reform and Democratic Transition (HAARO). Mr. Béji Caïd Essebsi also announced the decision "to stop any union activity of the security forces given the dangers it represents for the country's security." The PM voiced astonishment at the communiqué released by the Interior security forces union coalition, a communiqué that "incites to insurrection", specifying that any union activity led in this framework will be sanctioned in accordance with the law.