Tunis: 'What has happened in Tunisia since July 25, 2021 has not been witnessed by any other country,' President of the Republic Kais Saied stated on Thursday, pointing out that a national consultation had been organised, followed by the drafting of a new constitution, the organisation of parliamentary elections, later the election of the Council of Regions and Districts and now the presidential elections which are set for October 6, 2024. He underlined in his address to the Tunisian people on the 67th anniversary of the Republic Day, that in addition to these milestones, Tunisia, through its national choices and its people's, has achieved much better results than before, thanks to self-reliance and rejection of any recommendations from abroad and from institutions which had considered themselves to be guardians of Tunisia. He explained that "the inflation rate has been curbed, the food trade balance has achieved a positive surplus until late June, and the national foreign currency reserves have grown to 11 3 days and are likely to rise further." He explained that these indicators do not hide the magnitude of the challenges that must be taken up by working, saying, 'we are sure that we will overcome them.' Saied, who had announced his candidacy for the presidential election, renewed his pledge to exert further efforts to keep the country free and independent, with no sovereignty except for the people 'The people set a new date with history in 2021 to become the path of the revolution and history after the deviation of the December 17 revolution at more than one level to leave the people in their misery and the alliance between yesterday's thieves and those claiming that they came to rid the country of thieves and their intentions were to undermine the State's unity,' he indicated. The Head of State considered that a number of legal provisions at the time, including the constitution, had been drawn up at the behest of outsiders and with blatant interference from them, recalling the adjournment of sessions in the previous parliament for this purpose and said 'they were outwardly adversaries, but everyone knows that they are allies.' In another connection, President of the Republic stated that he had found a heavy legacy and a large volume of devastation, requiring caution in addressing it for the sake of peace within the society and national security. 'We thank God that not a single drop of blood was shed, as was plotted by those who wished to blow up the State from within, except for the terrorist operations that the military and security forces countered with iron and fire and thwarted dozens of plots that they were attempting to execute,' he pointed out. He added that one of the reasons for caution is the dismantling of the networks that have been organised within a number of state institutions and disrupted the normal functioning of their services, such as the deliberate cutting of water and electricity and the denial of providing the simplest services to the administration, as well as the systematic disrup tion of a number of projects despite the availability of funds, not to mention the betrayals, the embrace of Zionism and involvement in the Masonic lodges in Tunisia. 'Dismantling corruption networks, holding the corrupt accountable and restoring the legitimate rights of the poor and impoverished are choices which will be materialised, as this is what the people want,' he asserted. He affirmed that a number of officials, besides this difficult and delicate situation, have failed to fulfil their duty to serve the country and bear the trust even with the minimum required, indicating that he had often intervened with regional officials for instance to pick up garbage or open a post office, which are matters supposed to be undertaken by the official who had "fallen into the arms of the lobbies." 'What's more, a number of officials in the regions as well as at the national level did not bother to go to the 'Imadas' even once, and one of them did not even know the existence of the 'Imada' that I visited once,' h e said. The President of the Republic affirmed that the situation Tunisia is living through is unprecedented and is a struggle between a new political system and a system that has not been completely dissolved and has been sneaking back in lately to conspire, stating: ''Let everyone know that the next stage will not be managed by a legitimacy that the people overthrew, it is a new Republic that we are building in which there is no place for thieves, traitors or spies, as the Tunisian people want to determine their own destiny.'' He recalled Tunisia's full support for the Palestinian people until they recover all of Palestine and establish their independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse