Tunisia police hold pay protest at presidential palace
Date
1/25/2016 12:05:42 PM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Tunisian policemen wave the national flag and shout slogans during a demonstration outside Tunis' Carthage Palace on January 25 2016. AFP / FETHI BELAID
Carthage Tunisia:Hundreds of police staged a protest on Monday outside Tunisia's presidential palace to demand a pay rise in the latest sign of the country's economic and social woes.
"We are defending our homeland but also our rights" and "Our accounts are in the red" chanted demonstrators wearing civilian clothes rather than their uniforms outside the palace in Carthage on the outskirts of Tunis.
Presidential guards who lost 12 of their colleagues in a November bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group did not join the protest but wore black armbands in solidarity.
The demonstration was organised "after the failure of negotiations with the government on salary increases" Riadh Rezgui spokesman for Tunisia's domestic security services' union told AFP.
A government official who took part in the negotiations has said the cost of the pay increases demanded by police would amount to one billion dinars ($480000).
The police officers' union says that wages have not kept pace with inflation.
Authorities appealed for patience after protests against poverty and unemployment in several towns last week -- in what was the worst social unrest in Tunisia since the 2011 revolution.
On Monday the interior ministry eased an overnight nationwide curfew imposed on Friday by two hours meaning it will now last from 10:00 pm until 5:00 am instead of starting at 8:00 pm.
While Tunisia is hailed as a rare success story of the Arab Spring uprisings authorities have failed to redress the economy or resolve the problems of social exclusion and regional inequalities.
Apart from the political turmoil of the past five years which has handicapped the economy the North African country also faces jihadist violence that has devastated its vital tourism industry.
AFP