The images of a hundred trucks loaded with sugar, oil, flour and rice on their way to Tunisia were widely broadcast on Wednesday in the Arabic-language media. An initiative that is not necessarily to the taste of all Tunisians.
It was through the Libyan embassy in Tunis that the news arrived. In an interview granted to Agence France-Presse, Naim Acibi, press officer for the diplomatic representation, explains that it is a ” donation from the government of national unity (based in tripoli) to Tunisia to help overcome the severe commodity shortages facing the Tunisian people “. Still according to the press officer quoted by AFP, a total of 170 trucks of food products are expected on site.
For several months, Tunisia has been facing repeated shortages of basic necessities, such as wheat, sugar, coffee, oil and rice. Prices keep rising. According to the Tunisian Central Bank, inflation reached 9.8% last November, against 6.4% last year at the same period. Last Saturday, hundreds of Tunisians marched through the streets to protest against the worsening economic crisis. A demonstration, organized at the call of opponents of President Kaïs Saïed.
The sending of this aid comes less than two months after a visit to Tunisia at the end of November by the head of the government of Tripoli, Abdelhamid Dbeibah, which had marked a warming of relations between the two countries.
Everyone is only talking about this at the moment because it is experienced as a real humiliation by Tunisians. In the Tunisian imagination, Libya has always been in more difficulty than Tunisia.
Michaël Ayari, analyst at the International Crisis Group, specialist in Tunisia