Tunisian President Kais Saied on Saturday ordered the expulsion of the European Union’s top trade union official for statements described by Tunis as “flagrant interference” in the country’s internal affairs, according to the presidency. “On the orders of President Kais Saied, the Tunisian authorities have ordered the departure of Esther Lynch”, the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, the presidency said in a press release.
Esther Lynch “took part in a demonstration organized by the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) and made remarks which constitute a flagrant interference in the internal affairs of Tunisia”, according to the press release. The authorities give her 24 hours to leave Tunisia where she is now considered “persona non grata”, according to the same source.
“Hands off our unions, free our leaders”
Earlier in the day, the European trade union official had taken part in a demonstration organized at the call of the powerful trade union center UGTT in the port city of Sfax. It was one of many demonstrations organized simultaneously in several towns across the country to protest against the arrest of an important local trade union official and against the deterioration of the economic situation.
Coming to bring “solidarity on the part of 45 million workers in Europe”, Esther Lynch addressed the crowd gathered in this historic bastion of Tunisian trade unionism. “We say to governments: leave our unions free, free our leaders,” she said. The Tunisian government must “sit down and negotiate with the UGTT to find a solution” in order to improve the current political and economic situation, she added. The demonstrators were protesting in particular against the arrest at the end of January of Anis Kaabi, responsible for the highways branch of the UGTT.