Tunisia’s fate up in the air
TUNISIA lurched further into political uncertainty yesterday as President Kais Saied sacked more officials, days after he suspended parliament and assumed executive powers in what opponents called a coup.
Key civil society groups warned against any “illegitimate” extension of Saied’s 30-day suspension of parliament, and demanded a timeline for political action.
After suspending parliament and sacking Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi on Sunday, and firing the defence and justice ministers on Monday, Saied then ordered the dismissal of several top officials.
On Tuesday, 63-year-old Saied, a former law lecturer who was a political newcomer when he won a landslide 2019 presidential election victory, issued decrees sacking a long list of senior government officials, including the army’s chief prosecutor. He has also lifted the parliamentary immunity of legislators and assumed judicial powers.
Saied say his actions are justified under the constitution, which allows the head of state to take unspecified exceptional measures in the event of an “imminent threat”. On top of the political turmoil, the nation is beset by a crippling economic crisis including soaring inflation and high unemployment, as well as surging Covid-19 infections.
The moderate Islamist Ennahdha party, which was the largest faction in the coalition government, has labelled the power grab a “coup d’etat”, while the US, EU and other powers have voiced concern.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian yesterday urged Tunisia to rapidly appoint a new prime minister and government.
Further ramping up tensions, the Tunisian prosecutor’s office announced yesterday that the judiciary had opened an investigation into allegations that Ennahdha and two other political parties received illegal funding ahead of elections in 2019.
The judiciary opened the probe on July 14, focusing on “the foreign financing and acceptance of funds of unknown origin”, prosecution spokesperson Mohsen Dali said.
Saied, an austere academic who has said he is determined to revolutionise the political system through the law, said he would assume executive power “with the help” of a government whose new chief he would appoint himself.
Names of possible candidates circulated yesterday after Saied met representatives of national organisations late Monday.
“President Saied will be very careful in choosing the future head of government, because he wants a trustworthy and loyal person who would adopt the same policies as him,” said political scientist Slaheddine Jourchi.
The young democracy had often been cited as the sole success story of the Arab Spring. But, a decade on, many in the nation of 12 million people say they have seen little improvement in living standards, and have grown infuriated by protracted political deadlock with infighting among the elite.
The ousted government had also been criticised for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tunisia has one of the world’s highest official per-capita death tolls.
“President Saied is faced with a great challenge: to show Tunisians and the world that he made the right decisions,” added Jourchi.
After violent clashes outside the army-blockaded parliament on Monday, the Ennahdha party said “organised thugs” were being used to “provoke bloodshed and chaos”.
On Tuesday Ennahdha said that “for the sake of the democratic path”, it is “ready to go to early legislative and presidential elections” while demanding “that any delay is not used as a pretext to maintain an autocratic regime”.
Noureddine B’Hiri, a senior Ennahdha leader, said the party had “decided to campaign peacefully to defeat” the president’s plans. But before any elections, “parliament should resume its activities and the military end its control”, said B’Hiri.
In the 10 years since Tunisia’s popular revolution toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has had nine governments. Some have lasted just months, hindering the reforms needed to revamp the country’s struggling economy and poor public services.