Despite Their Differences, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh Together Supported the Tunisian Coup

In the wake of the coup in Tunisia, which was carried out by the country's president, Kais Saied, Gulf countries were accused of supporting this step, which is considered the last nail in the coffin of the Arab Spring.

Tunisia is the cradle of the Arab revolutions that erupted there in late 2010 and early 2011, and then spread to Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Sudan and Algeria.

 

Official Positions

Some Gulf countries issued statements expressing their official position on what is happening in Tunisia regarding the freezing of Parliament and the assumption of executive power by the President of the Republic.

However, other countries did not issue anything, while figures close to their decision-makers expressed their clear support for the coup.

The Saudi official position is expressed in a statement issued by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on July 20, 2021, in which it affirmed that it respects everything related to Tunisian internal affairs and considers it a sovereign matter.

Saudi Arabia stressed that it supports everything that protects the security and stability of the Republic of Tunisia. It affirms its confidence in the Tunisian leadership to overcome these circumstances and to achieve a decent life and prosperity for the Tunisian people.

In its statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry called on the international community to stand by Tunisia in these circumstances to face its health and economic challenges.

As for the United Arab Emirates, it did not issue any official position regarding what is happening in Tunisia, while the Kingdom of Bahrain confirmed, during the regular weekly session of the Council of Ministers, that it is interested in the latest developments in the Republic of Tunisia.

In a statement published by the official Bahrain News Agency on July 19, 2021, the Council expressed its "wishes for Tunisia to achieve goodness, progress and further stability and development."

In Qatar, on July 28, 2021, the Emir of the State, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, made a phone call to Tunisian President Kais Saied, in which he stressed the need to establish the rule of law in the country experiencing a political crisis.

The Emir of Qatar referred to the necessity of overcoming the current political crisis and the importance of the Tunisian parties adopting the path of dialogue to overcome it and establish the foundations of the state of institutions and establish the rule of law in the Tunisian Republic for the interest of the Tunisian people and to preserve their stability.

At a time when the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry announced during a statement on July 26, 2021 that Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Al-Jarandi telephoned his Kuwaiti counterpart Ahmed Nasser Al-Sabah to inform him of the current developments in Tunisia, the Sultanate of Oman also did not issue any position regarding Tunisia.

 

Rejoice and Heal

However, the Emirati and Saudi newspapers showed a convergent position for the two countries, despite the escalation of tensions between them, because of disagreements over oil policy, geopolitical views, and economic competition.

These media outlets celebrated the recent decisions of the Tunisian president, and considered them a response to the street protests against the "Muslim Brotherhood" in reference to the Tunisian Ennahdha movement.

Under the title "After Saied's decisions, What is happening in Tunisia?", the Emirati newspaper Al-Ittihad published an article by writer Abdullah Abu Deif accusing the Ennahdha movement of causing crisis in the country.

He said, "There is a great state of anticipation after the Tunisian president's decision to lift immunity from Parliament and suspend all its powers with the dismissal of the Prime Minister of the "Ennahda Brotherhood Movement" Hicham Mechichi, against the background of ongoing protests against the Ennahdha movement and the burning of its headquarters in several Tunisian states due to the deteriorating conditions in the country".

The Emirati newspaper Al Bayan reported several headlines such as "The Tunisian president shares his people's celebration of his decision to freeze parliament and dismiss the government," as well as "Tunisia is rising against the Brotherhood," and "Tunisians break the stone and go out to celebrate the president's decisions."

As for the Saudi newspaper, Al-Watan, it considered during its report on July 26, 2021 that "Saied took a package of successive exceptional decisions (..) to stop the state of confusion in the country, as a result of the practices of the Brotherhood's Renaissance Movement, which controls the legislative authority in the country."

It also said: "The decisions of Kais Saeid enjoyed great popular support, as thousands of Tunisians gathered in the squares to celebrate these measures, which would address the state of confusion caused by successive governments in Tunisia along with Parliament's management of the political scene, which was unable to respond to aspirations and ambitions of the Tunisian people.

As for the Saudi newspaper, "Okaz", it published several headlines supporting and cheering the coup, such as: "Tunisian anger burns the Brotherhood", "Tunisia is rising against the Brotherhood... Ghannouchi is falling", and "Tunisia is cleansed of the abomination of the Brotherhood", according to its description.

The Saudi newspaper said: "The decisions of Tunisian President Kais Saied to dismiss the government, freeze parliament and lift the immunity of its members, came in response to the street uprising against the Brotherhood and its dominance of the legislative and executive authorities."

As for the Saudi Middle East, it published an article in which it asked: “Does this mean that removing Ennahdha from power and its positions in Parliament and in the street justifies Saied’s decision to freeze the work of Parliament for a month and lift immunity , the seizure of the powers of the public prosecutor, and the dismissal of the government? 

The writer Hossam Itani added in the article published on July 26, 2021: "The fear seems legitimate that the only democratic experiment that has achieved relative success at the political level among the countries of the Arab revolutions, may fail the current test, and fall into the abyss of authoritarian regimes."

 

Emirati Plan?

On July 27, 2021, the British newspaper "The Guardian" published a report in which it said that "the so-called Arab nationalist police states are led by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which reorganized their ranks after the bloody coup in 2013 and regained the protection of Abu Dhabi and Riyadh."

According to the report, "The overthrow of the Tunisian government appears to stem from a confluence of events: the painfully slow march toward democratic norms, a collapsing economy, and a global slowdown that offered little encouragement."

The British journalist's report continued, saying that while "the coup's policies appeared to be local, the position of regional players, including the United Arab Emirates, remains unclear at the moment."

But a mysterious tweet by Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chief of Police and Public Security in Dubai, sparked widespread controversy on the communication sites. On July 22, 2021, he wrote on his Twitter account:” Good news, a strong new blow to the Brotherhood.”

This was four days ago, which made many associate it with what happened in Tunisia, which the Islamist Ennahda Party, affiliated with the Brotherhood, considered a "coup against legitimacy."

Dhahi returned to write on July 26, 2021 that “most of the time before the big events occurred, I feel them, I don’t know what the secret was.”

Many tweeters made it likely that he would already know what would happen in Tunisia before it happened, and that there was a scenario.

The leader of the "Ennahdha" movement and the speaker of the Tunisian parliament, Rached Ghannouchi, told the Turkish channel TRT Arabi on July 26, 2021: "It is clear that the Emirati media are behind the push for the coup and targeting the headquarters of the Ennahdha movement."

He continued, "The economic and social problems were exploited to incite young people against the government, which paved the way for these coup decisions.

He stressed that what happened was "a coup against legitimacy, the revolution and the constitution, and unfortunately it comes from a ruler who specializes in constitutional law."

He warned that "the coup will not solve the problems, but will multiply them." He stressed the importance of staying in the streets, and said, " In case of coup, we must go out to the streets."