The new executive committee of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) on Wednesday elected Zied Dabbar as the new president of the SNJT. "The SNJT is open to dialogue with all parties," Dabbar said in a statement to TAP news agency on Wednesday, adding it is an effective and qualitative partner and that its role is crucial for the construction of the country." Elections for the executive committee of the journalists' union were held last weekend and resulted in the election of nine members, eight of them from the list headed by Ziad Dabbar, a former member of the union. It was called the "Independent Professional List" and ran under the slogan "Freedoms... Dignity.... Development..." Ziad Dabbar, Zouhour Lahbib, Aida Hichri, Jihan Louati, Habiba Laabidi, Yassine Gaidi, Karim Ouannas and Siwar Amaydia were elected for this list, along with Amira Mohamed for the "Stability" list. He holds a bachelor's degree in postgraduate commercial studies from the Higher School of Commerce in Tunis and a master's degree in project studies from the National School of Engineers of Tunisia. The new president of the SNJT worked for ten years in economic journalism and then as a journalist in the political department of the newspaper "Le Temps", which belongs to the Dar Assabah group. Ziad Dabbar was elected a member of the executive committee of the International Federation of Journalists for the period 2017-2020, and vice-president of the African Federation of Journalists for two consecutive sessions from 2015 to 2020. In his statement to TAP, Dabbar said that the Union's work is mainly based on the defence of freedoms, as well as the establishment of legislation and best practices in the field of media, and the fight to defend the economic and social rights of journalists. "We cannot defend freedoms without dignity, and the dignity of a journalist cannot be defended without freedoms," he said. He added that defending the gains of freedom of expression, repealing Decree No. 54 and opposing the prosecution of journalists under the provisions of the Penal Code are among the most pressing challenges for the new SNJT board. He described the press sector as "beleaguered" by what he called the lack of legislation and the failure of private media to respect operational contracts.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse