The controversy has kept expanding between those who demand the hearing of the new Minister of Tourism Amel Karboul and the Minister in charge of Security, Ridha Sfar and those who oppose it.
The Bureau of the National Constituent Assembly, which met on Wednesday, decided to hold a plenary session, on Friday, May 9, to consider the motion of no confidence submitted by a group of 81 elected members of the NCA in two members of the government of Mehdi Jomaa.
Uncertainty still hangs over the hearing in camera. According to the communications officer of the NCA, Karima Souid, the heads of parliamentary blocs have endorsed the in camera review of the motion of no confidence, but, according to Article 78 of the Rules of Procedure, members have to vote on that.
Loss estimated at one million dinars per day…
Beyond this controversy, the question of the hearing itself will certainly be costly for a country preparing to welcome a new tourist season whose estimates appear favorable to promote this sector and achieve the objective, namely to attract 7 million tourists in 2014.
On the eve of the hearing, the company owner of the ship “Noordam” decided to cancel the stopover scheduled for next Saturday in Tunisia.
The “Assabahnews” website reported that this decision was due to the controversy about the entry of Israelis to Tunisia. Worse, other cancellations will take place and the resulting losses would certainly be huge for the country.
Mahmoud Baroudi, President of the Services and Tourism Commission at the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) has called the decision a “disaster” that will cause in value, a loss of 1 million dinars and more than 300 thousand dinars in foreign currency, per day.
He added that the owner of the shipping company “Holland America Line” has invoked the controversy aroused in recent days by the entry of Israelis and especially the hearing of the new Minister of Tourism by the NCA besides the fact that some members accused her of “normalization with the Zionist entity.”
Blow if we do not put an end to this controversy
For a large number of observers, the subject will continue to be widely discussed faced with the “continuous” silence of decision-makers who have not responded to this day despite the warnings from professionals and stakeholders.
In this context, the Head of the Jewish Committee in Djerba, Perez Trabelsi predicted a wave of cancellations of bookings and travel, if we do not put an end to the controversy surrounding the hearing of Minister of Tourism Amel Karboul.”
“Continue to hinder the work of the competent woman, and you will, undoubtedly, harm the image of the destination Tunisia,” Trabelsi told Deputies preparing to hear Amel Karboul.
In a telephone interview with Africanmanager, he also said that their efforts do not serve the tourism sector that has started to recover after a period of crisis.
Perez Trabelsi also welcomed the efforts of Amel Karboul who has increased travel abroad and managed to regain the confidence of several stakeholders.
This truth led him to call members of the NCA to be vigilant. “The situation is critical and the country needs foreign currency to boost its economy.”
By touching the Jewish lobby, we could not calculate the consequences
For his part, Hedi Hamdi, a journalist specializing in tourism, considered that «picking on the Jewish lobby in such a situation can only affect a strategic sector that accounts for 7% of GDP, especially since major tour operators are run by Jewish groups, specifically Israeli.
Referring to the next tourist season, which preparations have been started since last October, Hamdi noted that its future is dependent on the media coverage by Western newspapers of the hearing of the Minister of Tourism that will take place on Friday.
“We cannot say anything yet,” he told Africanmanager, stating that the meeting of the NCA scheduled for this Friday will be crucial for all stakeholders.
