Revitalizing Tunisian Cities: The Need for New Municipal Elections
To restore the luster of Tunisian cities, revamp their image, and renovate building facades, among other things, municipal officials will soon need to be elected to benefit from better institutional support and more substantial financial and material resources. This is expected to happen soon.
Recent Developments
The last municipal elections in Tunisia took place in 2018. Since then, the country has not elected new mayors. The municipal councils, dissolved in March 2023, were supposed to be renewed according to the rules of the new Constitution adopted by Tunisia in 2022. However, the necessary conditions for organizing a municipal election have not been met three years later.
Hope for Change
According to Farouk Bouasker, president of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), things should change soon. Without specifying exact dates for new municipal elections, there is hope for change by March 2026. However, this is conditional on the Parliament adopting a new legal framework for municipalities, replacing the current law on local authorities, which is deemed incompatible with the new constitutional architecture.
Current Municipal Action
Municipal action in Tunisia is generally limited to ordinary actions without undertaking significant achievements. For example, in the municipality of Tunis, cleaning actions have taken place recently on Marseille Street, and waste removal has occurred in several areas of the El Ouardia municipal district. However, these efforts remain marginal.
Future Prospects
In the future, municipal elected officials will have more prerogatives and weight in decision-making, provided they have more resources, such as equipment invested in and made available to municipal teams. However, this cannot happen without the possibility of organizing new municipal elections. The municipality of Tunis is not sparing efforts, awaiting the allocation of more significant means.
Minimum Service Guaranteed
Despite the challenges, municipal actions are being taken daily to ensure a "minimum service." For instance, in the Jebel Jelloud municipal district, the sanitation service intervened in a leisure space, including the sports field in the Bach Hamba neighborhood. Similar interventions have taken place in other districts, such as El Menzah, Ettahrir, and Om Hrairiya.
Roles and Responsibilities of Municipal Elected Officials
In Tunisia, the missions and duties of municipal elected officials, members of the municipal council, are defined primarily by the Code of Local Authorities (CCL) of 2018 and its evolutions. Their role revolves around two major axes: managing the affairs of the commune and being accountable to citizens.
Main Missions and Duties
The deliberative and planning missions are numerous. The Municipal Council, composed of elected officials, is the body that regulates the affairs of the Commune through its deliberations. Its main decision-making missions include finances and budget, examining and approving the communal budget, fixing local taxes, fees, and loans, and deliberating on acquisitions, alienations, and exchanges of communal property.
Competences and Services
The municipality, through its elected officials, is responsible for providing and managing numerous essential services for citizens' daily lives. These missions include road maintenance, public health, waste management, environmental protection, and cultural, sports, and youth activities.
Transparency and Accountability
The Code of Local Authorities emphasizes the duties of elected officials to ensure good governance. Transparency and accountability are requirements. The local authority is obliged to guarantee the transparency of its management (Article 34). This implies making public information on project decisions, financial management, and investments.
Ethical and Transparency Duties
Elected officials have the duty to guarantee effective citizen participation in the development, execution, and evaluation of development programs. Respect for the law is a red line. The mayor or president of the municipality is responsible for executing laws and regulations on the commune's territory and the Municipal Council's deliberations.
Conclusion
Municipal elected officials are decision-makers, managers of local public services, and guarantors of the general interest and citizen participation at the communal level. It is essential to organize new municipal elections by 2026 at the latest to revitalize Tunisian cities and provide better services to citizens.
