Tunisia's leader wants corrupt tycoons to fund poor regions

Tunisia’s president is proposing that hundreds of tycoons suspected of embezzlement reach a deal with the state to finance public hospitals, schools and development projects in poor regions to avoid convictions

TUNIS, Tunisia -- Tunisia's president is proposing that hundreds of tycoons suspected of embezzlement reach a deal with the state to finance public hospitals, schools and development projects in poor regions to avoid convictions. President Kais Saied seized new political powers this week and is trying to tackle the corruption and tax evasion that have long plagued the economy, notably in the lucrative phosphate sector and food trading. Saied is also seeking to counter accusations that his surprise decision to fire the prime minister and suspend parliament amounts to a coup. He insisted Wednesday on the “provisional” nature of the move and on his attachment to the freedoms and rights guaranteed in the Tunisian Constitution, created after protesters overthrew a dictator in 2011. The country is considered the only democratic success story resulting from the Arab Spring uprisings that year. Saied met Wednesday night with the head of the Tunisian employers organization, Samir Majoul, and proposed an unusual deal to some 460 leading business figures suspected of embezzling billions of dollars in the years leading up to Tunisia's 2011 revolution.