The problem is larger than the ITU selection. In fact, the problem comes from CS itself, since:

- 2 members of the CS "selection committee" are members of the Tunisian Senate (Mohamed Bechir Khalfallah and Chekib Dhaouadi)

- 2 persons on the selected list by CS are members of the Tunisian Senate (Mohamed Elyes Ben Marzouk and Jameleddine Khemakhem)

- Other Tunisian people involved in WSIS as "CS" are also members of the Tunisian Senate (to only cite two of them who have shouted and obstructed the works and public meetings of the HR caucus: Emna Soula, Habib Achour).


All these people have been nominated (not elected) by President Ben Ali in July 2005 (see http://www.realites.com.tn/index1.php?mag=1&cat=/10010100ACTUALITES/1Nation&art=13230&a=detail1).


Indeed, 41 out of 126 members of the Senate are designated by the President. The Tunisian Senate has been created in summer 2005, it is a lower Chamber, called "Chambre des Conseillers" (Chamber of Councellors). You may find synthetized information on the Tunisian Senate at: http://www.senat.fr/senatsdumonde/tunisie.html (in French, this is the web site of the French Senate).


Another eminent member of the Tunisian "CS" is a member of the Tunisian National Assembly (députée): Saïda Agrebi (see http://www.atm.org.tn/fr/index.htm)


That is to say that we should express concerns and protests:

- On the CS selection committee composition (not to mention the lack of transparency of its process, and the lack of accountability of its results: I still don't have received any answer regarding the fact that my own name, nominated by the HR caucus as proposed speaker, seems to have been "forgotten" by the "selection committee".

- On the recommended list to the ITU

- More generally, on the fact that Tunisian Parliament representatives (some not even elected, but nominated by President Ben Ali) are active as "CS" in the WSIS process, some of them having even created caucuses (like the "children rights caucus, created by Jameleddine Khemakhem).


However, these concerns and protests shouldn't be directed towards the ITU, which has picked up who it wanted from the list recommended by the "selection committee". They must be directed to CS @ WSIS itself, which has let this happened, some actively, others in a passive mode, by closing their eyes and their ears when such protests have been raised, specially by the human rights caucus, during the whole process.


If ITU selects who it wants, this is entirely our fault: by letting them choose in a "recommended list", we have allowed them to do that. If we had followed a procedure like the one proposed by Bertrand after the first "recommended list" has been posted, this wouldn't have happened.


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