Tunis/Tunisia — Minister of State Properties and Land Affairs, Ghazi Chaouachi, heard Monday by the parliamentary committee on administrative reform, good governance, the fight against corruption and the control of the management of public funds, deplored the weakness of the resources of the National Committee for the Management of Assets and Funds, Objects of Confiscation.

According to the Minister, the Committee also faced difficulties in accessing certain information necessary to enable it to apply the law while preserving the rights of those affected by the confiscation.

The Minister also affirmed that his department, being a member of this commission, coordinates with the other members to find solutions to the various problems that arise, speeding up the procedures for the disposal of confiscated assets and dealing with any form of shortcomings and attempts at blackmail that might take place.

Concerning the restitution of funds illegally transferred abroad, the Minister explained the weakness of the results achieved in this regard by the complexity of the legal procedures of the countries to which these funds were transferred and the non-activation of the diplomatic coordination mechanism.

Chaouachi further stressed the need to apply the law in such a way as to enable the State to get its hands on all confiscated property, stressing the need to respond to the proposal for criminal reconciliation under the rules of transitional justice.