Tunisia-PM Hichem Mechichi attached to the appointment of Kamel Ben Younes

He spoke in reaction to TAP staff’s decision to go on strike on April 22, due to the government’s persistence in appointing Kamel Ben Younes as CEO of the agency.

On the fringes of his inauguration on Monday of a field hospital in Kairouan, Mechichi told TAP that the appointment is not subject to a voting mechanism.

Ben Younes is entrusted with managing the agency at the administrative and financial levels, he said, adding the editorial line is the prerogative of TAP’s journalists, who carry out their profession in complete independence.

Earlier in the day, the staff of TAP News Agency decided to go on strike in its central and regional offices on April 22, on the call of its union sections of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) and the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT).

The two unions called on the Prime Ministry to revoke this appointment and to set professional criteria for the appointment of a CEO at the head of TAP, to guarantee the independence of this public media.

The stance of TAP staff is motivated by the involvement of Kamel Ben Younes before the Revolution in violations against the freedom of press and expression and trade union action. It is also fuelled by his attempts to undermine the independence of the Tunisian League of Human Rights (LTDH), his active participation in propaganda in the service of the dictatorial regime and his violent reactions against women. This in addition to the fact he is still serving “suspicious and known political agendas” after the Revolution.