Tunisian president denies he staged a coup review your constitutional lessons

By Alaa Swilam July 27, 2021 â€" 6.57amNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size

Cairo: Tunisian President Kais Saied, who recently ousted parliament, responded to critics who called his actions a coup on Monday by telling them to “review your constitutional lessons.”

Saied has framed his actions as a constitutional and popular response to years of economic and political paralysis, and said Article 80 of the constitution gave him power to dismiss the government, appoint a temporary administration, freeze parliament and lift the immunity of its members.

Under President Kais Saied orders troops surrounded Tunisia’s parliament and blocked its speaker Rached Ghannouchi from entering. Credit:AP

Saied called on Tunisians to remain calm and not to respond to any provocations. He also urged people not to take to the streets, saying “the most danger a nation can face is internal explosion.”

The president was also keen to reassure the business community saying: “we do not have any problems with businessmen,” shortly after credit ratings agency Fitch warned Tunisia would need to retain its reserves to avoid another rating downgrade.

Earlier on Monday, Saied imposed a night curfew for a month and suspended work in central administrations, foreign institutions, local groups and public institutions of an administrative nature for two days, starting on Tuesday, after people took to the streets between opponents and encouraging.

Tunisian soldiers guard the main entrance of the parliament as demonstrators gather outside the the gate in Tunis.Credit:AP

The Tunisian president stressed that he will take full responsibility for his latest decisions and that he does not want a single blood drop shed on Tunisian soil.

Explaining his reasoning, Saied said Tunisia had shifted from single-party rule to a one-lobby governance, accusing coalition parties of dividing the spoils. He dubbed them “thieves” and said he acted after his “patience had run out.”

“I am baffled by those who speak of a coup. I studied and taught the law and I know what a coup means â€" violating legitimacy,” he said in a Monday meeting with Tunisian representatives, a video of which was posted on his Facebook page. “I applied the constitution since conditions” for taking the decisions “were met,” he said.

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Saied took action late Sunday after masses of mainly young people demonstrated in the capital, Tunis, and other cities calling for the fall of the government and railing against hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The new movement restrictions, for which no official reason was given, will likely be taken as an attempt to quell any potential unrest from those opposed to his steps, including supporters of the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party, the biggest bloc in parliament.

Demonstrators celebrate with a Tunisian national flag during a rally after the president suspended the legislature and fired the prime minister in Tunis, Tunisia.Credit:AP

The stakes are huge for Tunisia, a rare Arab democracy whose 2011 uprising unseated the country’s long-serving president and sparked unprecedented upheaval in the Middle East. Politics have been bitterly contested in the country ever since, and the current tensions hint at broader regional shifts at play.

Since coming to power in 2019, Saied has forged stronger ties with Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, states with zero tolerance for Islamists.

In measured remarks, Saied on Monday accused politicians of “stealing billions off the sweat of the Tunisian people.”

“I reassure Tunisians that the state is still standing, and there will be no room for violating rights and freedoms or equality,” he said. “I also urge them not to to take to the streets. The most serious threat confronting states and societies is an implosion or internal fighting.”

The call for calm was echoed by the international community, including by key regional actors, the United Nations and the Arab League. US officials expressed concern about the situation, while saying there’s been no determination whether the situation is a “coup.”

“We are in touch at a senior level from both the White House and the State Department with Tunisian leaders to learn more about the situation, urge calm and support Tunisian efforts to move forward in line with democratic principles,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday.

Reuters, TNS

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