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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, May 14, 2017
Thousands of Tunisians march against corruption amnesty law
Demonstrators
hold flares during a demonstration against a bill that would protect
those accused of corruption from prosecution on Habib Bourguiba Avenue
in Tunis, Tunisia, May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi--Tunisians
demonstrate against a bill that would protect those accused of
corruption from prosecution on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, Tunisia,
May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Demonstrators
hit a drum during a demonstration against a bill that would protect
those accused of corruption from prosecution on Habib Bourguiba Avenue
in Tunis, Tunisia, May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi--Tunisians
demonstrate against a bill that would protect those accused of
corruption from prosecution on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, Tunisia,
May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Several thousand Tunisians marched through central Tunis on Saturday to
protest against a bill that would grant amnesty to businessmen accused
of corruption when autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was in power.
Critics of the Economic Reconciliation bill say it is a step back from
the spirit of Tunisia's 2011 revolution to oust Ben Ali but government
officials say it is a way get the businessmen to inject some of their
ill-gotten cash back into the economy.
The draft law allows businessmen to reveal stolen funds and repay them.
No exact figures exist for the amount of graft during Ben Ali times but
based on past investigations, officials say some $3 billion could be
returned initially under the law.
Waving flags and banners saying "No to forgiveness" and "Enough
Corruption", about 5,000 people accompanied by opposition party leaders
and activists marched through the capital's central Avenue Habib
Bourguiba.
Six years after the uprising against Ben Ali, Tunisia is praised as a
model of democratic transition but it is still struggling with the
corruption, economic malaise and youth frustrations that helped trigger
the revolt.
For many critics the law - which has been stuck in parliament for two
years since President Beji Caid Essebsi proposed it - is simply an
amnesty for criminals and a way to rehabilitate Ben Ali allies back into
Tunisian society.
"We're here to say to Essebsi and his cohorts that the law will fall in
the street like in all democracies," Popular Front opposition leader
Ammar Amroussia told Reuters. "He wants to pass this corrupt law, but
these protests show that we say no."
Essebsi, himself a former Ben Ali official, sent the law to parliament
in 2015 though the bill was delayed after criticism it benefited
business elites tied to the government. It is now being debated in
committee and then goes to a plenary session.
Despite a consensus between secular and Islamist parties that helped
keep Tunisian stable after the uprising, the bill has divided Tunisians
between those who want to close the door on the past and those who say
they cannot tolerate corruption.
Protests against the law, and others in the south of Tunisia this month
over jobs, come at a sensitive time for Prime Minister Youssef Chahed
who is struggling to pass austerity measures and public spending reforms
to help economic growth.
Despite its democratic progress, free elections and new constitution,
Tunisia still faces social unrest among many young unemployed who feel
their revolution against official abuses and corruption has not
delivered economic opportunities.
"Today we are saying the defenders of the revolution are still here,"
said protester Sabra Chrifa, wearing a T-Shirt with the slogan "No
Forgiveness". "We can't accept something that whitewashes corruption
like this."
(Writing by Patrick Markey; editing by David Clarke)