The Tunisian General Labour Union (French: UGTT) Administrative Committee said the draft finance law brought to the floor for approval at the Assembly of People's Representatives is "the reproduction of a liberal accounting policy void of creativity which was devised in closed offices far away from any participatory approach." The committee, meeting Thursday in Hammamet, shed light on the continuous shortage of commodities, price hikes and deteriorating social services such as education, health, transport, etc, as a result of speculation, the absence of a clear-cut economic policy and the government's doublespeak. The government, the statement reads, "champions - in appearance- popular demands while abandoning social and national gains such as subsidisation and public companies, in line with the recommendations of international lenders." In another connection, the administrative committee decried the genocide in Gaza which butchered 14,500 Palestinians, in addition to those still under rubble- an aggressi on, it said, carried out by colonial powers spearheaded by the USA and Arab regimes which normalised relations with the Zionist entity. The committee also commended the drive of solidarity with the Palestinians demonstrated by Arab peoples and the free peoples of the world who demanded a halt to the slaughter, the opening of border crossings and the prosecution of war crimes. Trade unionists, workers and the general public are urged to participative actively in local, regional and national events aimed to defend Palestinian rights and back the Resistance. There is need, the committee said, for a law criminalising normalisation. Source: EN - Agence Tunis Afrique Presse