Cabinet meeting adopts several decree-laws

The Cabinet of the Interim Government held its regular meeting on Friday in Carthage, under the chairmanship of Caretaker President Foued Mebazaa. After the meeting, official spokesman for the Cabinet meeting, Mr. Taieb Baccouche, said that the meeting adopted the following decree-laws: -Draft decree-law providing for amendment to and completion of some provisions of the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedures. This bill seeks to reactivate international conventions ratified by Tunisia on corporal and political rights, particularly the International Convention against Torture. Mr. Baccouche said that this decree-law comes to abrogate all that is likely to threaten freedoms, including the law on economic security adopted under the former regime. - Decree-law authorising the ratification of the convention on delimitation of sea borders between Tunisia and Algeria. The official spokesman added that the Cabinet looked at four draft decree-laws submitted by Finance Minister Jalloul Ayed. The first pertains to keeping in force the tax amnesty with regard to late payment penalties on tax income returns.  The second provides for amendment to law n°14 of the year 1981 dated March 2, 1981, related to the creation of the Kairouan Tobacco Company. The third decree-law provides for the organisation of activities of micro-funding institutions, while the fourth decree-law pertains to tax provisions on the micro-funding institutions. The meeting, he added, also looked at and adopted the draft law authorising the ratification of the draft agreement between the Tunisian Government and the World Food Programme (WFP) on the opening of an office of this programme in Tunisia. The Cabinet also looked at the draft decree-law providing for approval of Tunisia's ratification of the agreement establishing the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a draft decree-law authorising the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to open a liaison office in Tunis, on the basis of the exchange of letters between the Bank and the Republic of Tunisia dated July 18, 2005. Mr. Taieb Baccouche added that the Cabinet also approved of four draft decree-laws on the fight against corruption, granting exceptional leaves to civil servants candidates in the Constituent Assembly election, the Press, Printing and Publishing Code and the law on audio-visual communication after introducing some amendments to all these draft decree-laws. The Cabinet also adopted the draft decree-law on youth institutions. The Cabinet meeting, he added, reviewed the issue of indemnifying martyrs and wounded of the Revolution and established to this effect the principle of the State's responsibility in material and moral compensation for the benefit of the victims of the Revolution. The Cabinet, he said, emphasised the duty to rehabilitate these victims, saying that a draft decree-law on rights of this category will be published shortly. Moreover, reports were submitted to the Cabinet by the Ministers of Defence, the Interior and Foreign Affairs, pointing to a noticeable improvement in the domestic security situation, particularly at the level of border control and stepping up of the campaigns of fight against crime. The Cabinet denounced "trouble and violence caused by extremist individuals" who targeted educational establishments, attacked persons and destroyed property, Mr.  Baccouche pointed out. He reasserted, in this regard, the need to protect the educational institutions, the places of worship and public amenities, and preserve them from any form of political exploitation. Speaking about the forthcoming elections, Mr. Baccouche expressed the Cabinet's satisfaction at the furtherance state of preparations, highlighting the efforts exerted by the Independent Higher Authority for the Elections (IHAE), with the assistance of the various ministries and the civil service. During the meeting, the Cabinet also looked into the issue of power transfer after the proclamation of the results of next October 23 National Constituent Assembly (NCA) elections. Mr. Baccouche recalled that, based on the principle of preserving the State's perenniality and by virtue of Articles 8 and 18 of the decree-law on the authorities' provisional organisation, the Cabinet reasserted that the implementation of these provisions comes to an end when the NCA takes up duty and organises the new authorities that will appoint the new president and government.