Tunisia, a Non-Clear Future Amid Kais Saied’s Decisions

The French newspaper Le Point saw that the turning point in Tunisia "shakened the emerging democracy", which was considered, to some extent, far from the turmoil of the Arab Spring.

On the evening of July 25, 2021, Tunisian President Kais Saied announced, after an emergency meeting with military and security leaders, the freezing of Parliament's powers, and the exemption of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi from his duties, provided that he himself assumes the executive authority with the help of a government whose president is appointed.

A day later, Said dismissed the Prime Minister in charge of managing the Ministry of the Interior, Ibrahim Al-Bertaji, the Minister of Defense, and Hasna Ben Slimen, the Minister in charge of the public service and the Acting Minister of Justice.

On July 27, the Tunisian president relieved officials in high state positions from their duties, including the Director of Military Judiciary, Brigadier General Judge Tawfik Al-Ayouni.

 

Saving the State

He took these measures on a day when many provinces witnessed popular protests, which demanded the overthrow of the entire ruling system and accused the opposition of failure, in light of political, economic and health crises.

Saied said that he took these decisions to "save the Tunisian state", but the majority of parties rejected them, and some considered them a "coup against the constitution", while others supported these decisons, considering them a "Reform of the path."

Tunisia is seen as the only Arab country that has succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition among other Arab countries that also witnessed popular revolutions years ago that toppled the ruling regimes in it, including Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

However, on more than one occasion, Tunisian figures accused Arab countries, especially the Gulf states, of leading a "counter-revolution" to abort the democratic transition process in Tunisia, fearing for the fate of the ruling regimes in those countries.

After the meeting, Kais Saied, who has been involved for months in a confrontation with Ennahdha, the main parliamentary bloc, declared, "We are going through very sensitive moments in the history of Tunisia."

He also said that his measures "are not a suspension of the constitution nor out of constitutional legitimacy, we are working within the framework of the law," as he said.

Since the adoption of the Tawafuq constitution in 2014, state agencies have operated under a mixed parliamentary system in which the president enjoys the powers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense.

Saied's move is far from impressing Ennahdha, the main bloc in parliament, says Le Point.

Indeed, in response, the Islamist Ennahdha party declared what had happened a “coup against the revolution and the constitution,” in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

The formation, led by Parliament Speaker Rachid Ghannouchi, stressed that "his supporters, as well as the Tunisian people, will defend the revolution."

“The constitution does not allow parliament to be dissolved, but it allows its activities to be suspended,” Kais Saied had previously announced, anticipating criticism and based on Article 80, which, in his view, allows this kind of measure in the event of “imminent danger.”

 

Explosive Situation

One thing is for sure, the situation has been more than tense,in the country for some time, according to the French newspaper.

This announcement comes with protests in many cities across the country despite the heavy police presence to curb the protest movement.

Thousands of demonstrators in particular demanded the "dissolution of Parliament" in the context of the Tunisian public's anger over the differences between the parties in Parliament, due to the confrontation between Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi - also Ennahdha leader - and President Kais Saied who paralyzes public authorities.

The protesters also denounced the government's inaction in the face of the health crisis related to the Coronavirus, which made Tunisia suffer from a lack of oxygen.

With nearly 18,000 deaths out of 12 million people, the country has one of the worst official death rates in the world from this pandemic.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against Ennahdha and the prime minister, who supports it, Hicham Mechichi, and chanted, "The people want to dissolve parliament."

"Regime change" was written on the banners, and the headquarters and symbols of the Renaissance were targeted.

Calls to demonstrate on July 25, Republic Day, have been circulating for several days on Facebook, coming from unidentified groups.

They demanded, among other things, a change in the constitution and a transition period that would leave more room for the army, while keeping President Saied at the head of the state.

Which reminds us of the demonstrations of the 2011 revolution that toppled the former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power.

After the aforementioned revolution, Tunisia was put on the path of democratization, which it has been following since then, despite the social and security challenges.

However, since the coming to power of a fragmented parliament in 2019 and the election of a president completely independent of the parties, as a result of the people fed up with the political class in power since 2011, the country has plunged into almost intractable political crises.

After Kais Saied's recent decisions, Tunisia woke up, on July 26, to an unknown political climate, says Le Point