The Tunisian taxpayer, even unknowingly, loves his president and nothing seems to refuse. This allows our president to do some crazy things. The last, he was released on December 12. His reward for responding to calls from Tunisia to stand for a fifth term as head of the country, a gift to the sacrifices he has made during the past 22 years: A new presidential plane .
The new airplane Presidency of the Republic of Tunisia photographed 19 December 2009 at Toulouse-Blagnac airport before his departure for Tunisia. Photo credit: Terence Li www.airliners.net . But not any plane: An Airbus A340, brand new, in one of its most expensive versions. With 68 meters long and 63 large-scale, model A340-541HGW (for "High Gross Weight") is a four who can fly 16,700 miles without refueling and can take off with a maximum weight of 380 tonnes. That makes "things" to carry!
A jewel that is contained in Airbus catalog for the modest sum of $ 237 million, but whose version "VIP", one commissioned by our President, may reach 300 million, or nearly 400 million of our dinars. At this price, we can understand why this purchase was not one of the organs of propaganda. There are times when we must have spending discretion.
Discretion, was not enough to keep this new acquisition in secret for too long. Very quickly, the image of the plane, marked "Presidency of the Republic of Tunisia," has appeared on the websites of amateur photography Aeronautics, the same that had enabled the blogger Astrubal , to trace the vicissitudes of the old presidential plane . Again, the magic of the Internet has operated and the picture ended up on the net through Tunisian Facebook and Twitter.
Some examples of Tweets mentioning the new purchase presidential. Translation (2nd tweet): " During Sarkozy's visit in 2008, Airbus sold 19 planes to Tunisia including one for Ben Ali " But, in fact, our President, he needs a new plane? What of his Boeing 737, companion of his travels and formal? Is it too old to fly safely? In looking more closely, we discover that the former presidential cuckoo flies only since August 20, 1999 , date of delivery, once again, brand new configuration "VIP". Ten years of operation rather casual gave at least two decades of operation of the technology before it. What fly has stung our President?
fleet of the Presidency Republic has two planes that have an average age of 6.5 years in both configuration "VIP". Source: www.planespotters.net The answer might come from our neighboring Algeria. Indeed, in June 2008, Airbus delivered the same model in a configuration less furnished , the Algerian president who has control 6 months earlier. During his visit to Tunisia in February 2008, President Bouteflika, would it have fueled the greed of our President in extolling the merits of the new toy he had just ordered?
And then, the Algerian president is not the only one captivated by this aircraft. His French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy had almost succumbed to the words of Louis Welsh, president of EADS Airbus A340 advised him with an argument that speaks " a four, it immediately throws more . Finally, the French president to fall back on the A330 occasion.
But the idea has caught on, and the argument of Louis Welsh had to serve for agreement for a firm command sixteen aircraft and three options, including that of the Presidency on the occasion of the visit of President Nicolas Sarkozy in Tunisia in April 2008. A few months later, the presidential plane was leaving the assembly line of Airbus as evidenced by its date of manufacture. But it took the visit of Prime Minister Francois Fillon, to confirm the option put on the plane . Seven months later, the plane left the hangar at the airport Toulouse-Blagnac.
But ultimately how it happened does not answer our question: Why a new airplane? It is likely that neither the parliament, which has already voted this purchase, nor the Court of Auditors that never touches the accounts of the presidency will not respond to our question. Because the only plausible explanation is that a caprice of the President. After millions of dinars spent the masquerade that led to his re-election, this staggering new costs, to give an image that " throws " is further evidence of his megalomania.
Written by: Punica Fides
Posted: www.nawaat.org
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