TUNISIA’S PRESIDENT ACCUSED OF STAGING A ‘COUP’ AFTER SUSPENDING PARLIAMENT

Mon 26 July 2021:

Tunisia’s president Kais Saied, has suspended parliament and sacked Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, a decision that his opponents have denounced as an attack on democracy, while others have cheered in the streets.

He added that he has also decided to lift the immunity of all members of parliament, known as the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, and to undertake public prosecution himself.

🔴💥Tunisia’s President suspends parliament after an emergency meeting with armed forces and security services, announces he is assuming executive power following violent unrest#Tunisia
The rug has been pulled from the Renaissance movement
#eXtranews pic.twitter.com/9y4aPeB3Tv

— FDA Semocool 🇺🇸 🇸🇦 (@drsemocool777) July 26, 2021

It is the biggest challenge yet to a 2014 constitution that split powers between the president, prime minister and parliament.

“Many people were deceived by hypocrisy, treachery and robbery of the rights of the people,” he said in a statement carried on state media.

“I warn any who think of resorting to weapons … and whoever shoots a bullet, the armed forces will respond with bullets,” he added.

He also suspended the immunity of members of parliament, insisting his actions were in line with the constitution.

The statement followed an emergency meeting at his palace after thousands of Tunisians marched in several cities, with much of the anger focused on the Ennahdha party, the biggest in parliament.

#Tunisia: protesters, on Sunday evening, marched through the main streets of #Siliana, calling for the fall of the government and the dissolution of the parliament, before storming and ransacking the local offices of #Ennahdha and #PDL parties. #TAP_En pic.twitter.com/rOx0ZM2XpZ

— TAP news agency (@TapNewsAgency) July 25, 2021

Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi’s response

Saied went on to note that he took these decisions in “consultation” with Mechichi and Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi and will take other decisions until social peace returns to the country.

Ghannouchi, for his part, said Saied’s move is nothing but a “full-fledged coup” against the Tunisian constitution, revolution and freedoms in the country.

He also called on the Tunisian people to “restore democracy” through peaceful means as this move drags the country into “one-man rule.”

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ghannouchi later said he regretted the president’s move and noted that the democratically elected parliament and government were still carrying out their duties.

#Tunisia’s parliamentary speaker Ghannouchi calls President Saeid’s decision to suspend parliament & dismiss PM a ‘coup’ & ‘against the revolution’. ‘This is what the people rose up against.’ pic.twitter.com/JQ8GItVa41

— ÖZGÜR-DER (@OZGURDER) July 25, 2021

Speaker Ghannouchi attempts to access parliament in early morning hours to hold session in defiance of President Saied’s orders, prevented from entering by army stationed outside.

Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi accused President Saied of launching “a coup against the revolution and constitution” after the move.

“We consider the institutions to be still standing and supporters of Ennahdha and the Tunisian people will defend the revolution,” Ghannouchi, who heads Ennahdha, told the Reuters news agency by phone.

The party also condemned the president’s move as a “state coup against the revolution”.

“What Kais Saied is doing is a state coup against the revolution and against the constitution, and the members of Ennahdha and the Tunisian people will defend the revolution,” Ennahdha wrote in a statement on its Facebook page.

According to the senior politician, the president’s “wrongful” action had the potential to drag the country into an abyss, and he called on parliament members to stand and defend their legitimacy against the “constitutional coup.”

Arguing that the president’s way of understanding the constitution was completely wrong, he further noted that he would invite political structures in parliament to a meeting and continue their activities as usual on Monday.

Saied has been enmeshed in political disputes with Prime Minister Mechichi for more than a year, as the country grapples with an economic crisis, and a flailing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saied and the parliament were elected in separate popular votes in 2019, while Mechichi took office last year, replacing another short-lived government.

Meanwhile, soldiers deployed at parliament did not allow Ghannouchi and accompanying lawmakers to enter the building.

Ennahda Movement party deputy leader Ali Larayedh also said in remarks to the Al-Jazeera news channel that the Tunisian president had carried out a coup against the constitution and the 2011 revolution.

Larayedh was questioning the fate of the prime minister, saying he was informed that Mechichi had been “detained” in the presidential palace.

“There’s a failure of governments and the president himself is offering no leadership,” William Lawrence, a professor at the American University in Washington DC and an expert on Tunisia, told Al Jazeera. “His solution is to fire people, a bit like the former president of the United States. Despite the jubilation in certain corners of Tunisia, there is not widespread jubilation I don’t think. So far, we don’t see a president who has the authority or the ability to solve the problems (Tunisia faces).”

Thousands protest

Thousands of people had defied virus restrictions and the scorching heat to demonstrate earlier on Sunday in Tunis, the capital, and other cities. The crowds of mostly young people shouted “Get out!” and slogans calling for the dissolution of parliament and early elections.

The protests were called on the 64th anniversary of Tunisia’s independence by a new group called the July 25 Movement.

There was heavy security presence, especially in Tunis where police blockades blocked all streets leading to the capital’s main road, Avenue Bourguiba. The avenue was a key site for the Tunisian revolution 10 years ago that brought down a dictatorial government and unleashed the Arab Spring uprisings.

-with agencies

———————————————————————————————————————-

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent