Protests Erupt in Tunisia Demanding Activation of Law 38

Hundreds of Tunisian university graduates and unemployed youth marched in protests all over the country rejecting the decision of President Kais Saied to revoke Law 38, related to exceptional provisions for assignment in the government sector.

Angry protesters chanted against the President’s decision, stressing that his rejection of the law, which Saied himself approved and ordered its publication in the official gazette, “is killing our dreams.”

Law 38, issued on 13 August 2020, is related to exceptional provisions for assignment in the government sector for those whose unemployment exceeds ten years.

However, the President proposed a different employment method, through private companies, because the state is no longer able to employ public servants.

Activist Ashwaq al-Ajlani said that Law 38 is a “red line” because it affects marginalized graduates, whose hopes, dreams, and lives have been lost.

They are demanding their right to be assigned to public office, Ajlani noted, adding that some university graduates have been unemployed for over ten years.

She asserted that the protests would continue until they attain their demands, calling on the President to reverse his decision.

In the same context, Hana Bouras said that her meeting with the President came after months of suffering and sit-ins, especially in the Kasbah and near the Carthage Palace.

Saied met with a group of unemployed youth who have been left without a job for over ten years.

Bouras said that they asked the President to “gradually” implement the law in the public service, taking into account the capabilities of the state. But the President said “forget about the public service.”

President Saied had considered that Law 38 was set up as a tool for governance and to contain the public’s anger, noting that it was not applicable.

“They have sold young people false illusions that made them believe that these legal texts will be implemented, while those who drafted and approved them know they will never be implemented.”