A Secret Document Reveals Kais Said’s “Coup Plot”
The British "Middle East Eye" website reported on a leaked document prepared by senior advisers to the Tunisian President, Kais Saied, urging him to take full control of the country. The website said, "Said's senior advisers called on him to wrest control of the country from the elected government, while the latter is fighting the Corona pandemic and economic crisis." The plan is to attract Said's political opponents to the presidential palace and announce the coup and not allow them to leave. Other senior politicians and businessmen will also be arrested at the same time.
Total Control
The plan is written in a document passed to Middle East Eye, which it described as "top secret" and dated May 13, 2021. This document is addressed to the director of the Tunisian presidential office, Nadia Okasha, and it explains how the president will enact a chapter of the constitution that would grant him - in a state of national emergency - complete control over the state. According to the plan, which was leaked from Okasha's private office, the president calls for an urgent meeting of the National Security Council at the Carthage Palace, under the pretext of the pandemic, the security situation and the general financial situation of the country.
After that, Said declares, "a constitutional dictatorship" which is a tool "to concentrate all powers in the hands of the president of the republic." The document described the situation as a "national emergency," which states: "In such a case, the role of the President of the Republic is to combine all the powers in his grip so that he becomes the center of power, which exclusively enables him to exercise all the powers that he possesses."
Then, according to the document, Said ambushes the attendees - which will include Prime Minister Hicham Mechichi, Parliament Speaker, and Ennahda leader Rashid al-Ghannouchi - by announcing that Chapter 80 of the constitution will allow the president to hold powers in a state of national emergency. The document states that Mechichi and Ghannouchi will not be permitted to leave the palace, and that the palace will be separated from the Internet and all external communications. At that point, the president will deliver a televised address to the people in the presence of Mechichi and Ghannouchi to announce his coup.
House Arrest
The document announces the appointment of Major General Khaled al-Yahyawi as the acting Minister of Interior, with the deployment of the armed forces "at the entrances of cities, institutions and vital facilities." At the same time, the principal persons will be placed under house arrest. The top-secret document states that the house arrest will include representatives from the Ennahda Movement, Noureddine Bhiri, Rafik Abdessalam, AbdelKarim Harouni, Sayed Ferjani, and from the Heart of Tunisia party, Ghazi Karoui, and Sofien Toubel, businessmen and advisors in the Office of the Prime Minister, .. ".
To make the coup sound like popular, the document says all payments for electricity, water, phone, internet, bank loans and taxes will be suspended for 30 days, and prices for basic commodities and fuel will be reduced by 20 percent. Many were asked if they believed in the story of this document, but a member of the government told Middle East Eye: "I don't think so, it's just a rumor on Facebook, in Tunisia you can hear about anything."
Keeping the Prime Minister
The plan also includes proposals to prevent any parliamentarian elected by the Tunisian courts from leaving the country, and to eliminate all governors belonging to a political party from their positions. The president will reshuffle all the cabinet except the Prime Minister. When asked why Said wanted to keep the Prime Minister while replacing all his ministers, a senior Tunisian political source said : "It would be a way to neutralize him without having to remove him immediately, which is a complicated procedure involving a vote in Parliament."
The source, who requested anonymity, said, "Mechichi will remain temporarily a Prime Minister to avoid taking many steps ." A source close to Said’s advisers confirmed that "the plan has been discussed by persons close to the president since April 2021, but it has not been delivered directly to him."
Soft Coup
Said, who took office in 2019, was previously accused of a "soft coup" inside Tunisia. Earlier, he described the role of the president of the republic, as "the supreme commander of the military and civilian armed forces" during a speech attended by both Mechichi and Ghannouchi. He said, "There is no discrimination.
The law, the texts of the world, the law of contracts and obligations, all mention that the armed forces are the army and the security forces." The British site considered that "Said's specific reference to the president's authority over the internal security forces has rang alarm bells within the Tunisian political establishment." In April 2021, Said again suspended parliamentary efforts to establish a constitutional court, a key element in the Tunisian revolution to strengthen the country's democracy.
The court was to be the first of its kind in the Arab world. In January 2021, Said also refused to swear an oath of ministers chosen by Mechichi in a cabinet reshuffle, saying that "the individuals concerned have a conflict of interest." The political source said, "The only solution is dialogue. President Said rejects all dialogue initiatives ... His project is to amend the constitution and cancel legislative elections."
