In a statement late Sunday night, Tunisian President Kais Sayed referred to the constitution to dismiss Prime Minister Heichem Mecici and order the suspension of parliament for 30 days. Syed announced that he would take over the administration of the country with the help of a new prime minister.
The Tunisian president has argued that his goal is to restore peace to a country that is mired in a political crisis and a wave of protests against the ruling party and its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thousands of Tunisians took to the streets on Sunday to protest against the government and the largest party in parliament – the moderate Islamist Ennahdha – following a fresh outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and growing discontent with the political and economic crisis that has gripped Tunisia. …
Following Syed’s announcement on Sunday, thousands of Tunisians have returned to invade the streets of the Tunisian capital, this time in celebration.
“We managed to free ourselves from them,” said Lamia Meftahi, a woman who celebrated in central Tunisia after Sayed’s statement, referring to parliament and government. “This is the happiest moment since the revolution,” Meftahi added, referring to the 2011 anti-government revolution known as the Arab Spring.
President Syed himself joined the crowd to celebrate the fall of the government.
Coup d’état and attack on democracy
Following an emergency meeting on Sunday, Syed announced in a televised address: “We make these decisions until social peace is restored in Tunisia and until we save the state.”…
The Tunisian president has argued that the constitution allows him to suspend parliament if he is in “immediate danger” and has promised to respond with military force to any armed response against his actions. “I warn anyone who thinks of resorting to weapons and who fires a bullet, the military will also respond with ammunition,” Syed warned.
Opponents of the Tunisian president accuse him of a coup d’état and an attack on democracy. Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rashed Ghannouchi accused Sayed of “coup against revolution and constitution“.
“We believe that institutions still exist and that Ennahda’s supporters and the Tunisian people will defend the revolution,” Gannushi, leader of an Islamic-inspired party, told Reuters.
At dawn Monday, Gannouchi arrived at parliament, where he said he would call a session in defiance of Sayed, but an army stationed outside the building blocked the entrance of the 80-year-old former political exile. “I am against the transfer of all power into the hands of one person,” the political leader said.
Two other major parties in parliament, Heart of Tunisia and Karama, have joined Ennahda in accusing Said of the coup. Former President Moncef Marzouki said the Tunisian president is putting the country “in an even worse situation.”
This is the biggest challenge for democracy in Tunisia since the 2011 revolution that triggered the so-called Arab Spring and overthrew autocracy but failed to impose firm governance.
A decade after the revolution, Tunisia faced a deep economic crisis and one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Africa, exacerbating political instability and social discontent with the government.
with agencies
