Tunisian state television staff protest imposition of president’s agenda on editorial policies

By Suad Al-Jalasi

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TUNIS, Tunisia (AA) - Dozens of employees at the official Tunisian television channel rallied Friday against what they said was the imposition of Tunisian President Kais Saied's agenda on the station’s editorial policies.

Protesters raised banners demanding authorities stop intervening in journalists' work and halt attempts to exclude opposition voices by assigning Awatef al-Dali as new director for national television.

"The Tunisian TV became as a horn for the authorities and a voice for one party, by excluding the voices of others," said Amira Mohamed, Vice President to the Tunisian journalists union.

She said al-Dali rejects any programs that show different political or economic views.

The presidency said Feb. 15 in a brief statement that Saied "decided to end the assignment of Shukri Al-Sheneti from his duties as a temporary administrator of the Tunisian Broadcasting Corporation, and to cancel all naming and appointment decisions that were taken by him."

Saied dismissed the government, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority last July amid mounting public anger about economic stagnation and political paralysis.

While Saied insists his "exceptional measures" were meant to "save" the country, critics have accused him of orchestrating a coup.

Tunisia has been seen as the only country that succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition among Arab countries which witnessed popular revolutions toppling ruling regimes, including Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar