President Kais Saied discusses social issues with Minister of Social Affairs

Tunis: President Kais Saied reviewed a number of issues related to social affairs in general during a meeting with Social Affairs Minister Malik Zahi at Carthage Palace on Tuesday.

“Today, we are moving steadily to develop a new legislative system to break with the legal legacy that Tunisia inherited, which has become obsolete, as well as corruption, injustice and exclusion,” Saied was quoted as saying in a presidency statement.

He added that the stage the country is going through requires ‘different perceptions, new ideas and concepts in line with a new political ideology.’

The President of the Republic also stressed the need to consolidate the efforts of all state bodies so that Tunisian citizens can lead a dignified life, no less than their right to employment, health, transport and education, which are all basic human rights.

“State policy should not be based on patchwork and sectoral approaches, but rather on a vision of a total liberation project for the citizen and the country”.

The President of t
he Republic also spoke of the need to rethink the support given to social funds, finding different ways of enabling them not only to achieve their financial equilibrium, but also to fulfil the legitimate objectives for which they were created.

The Head of State also stressed the need to speed up the development of new laws that he had ordered to be reviewed, such as those relating to subcontracting and temporary contracts, which do not achieve the social stability that every worker seeks.

“The term ‘precarious work’ should be abolished,” he stressed.

The President of the Republic highlighted the need to speed up the resolution of the situation of construction workers and contractors who have spent decades of their lives working and are now barely noticed. This is a ‘blatant injustice that cannot continue,’ he said, adding that those who have been retired must be treated in a way that preserves their honour and dignity.

In this regard, the Head of State pointed out that the increase in retirement pensions
must be an automatic process, just as when wages are increased, there must be an automatic adjustment.

He added that just as workers have the right to fair wages, pensioners have the right to fair pensions.

The President of the Republic concluded by saying that the rhetoric of crisis that was being used was intended to justify not developing the legislation that the Tunisian people wanted. “It was a tool of governance and today it has become a tool for questioning state policy,” he added.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse