TUNIS: The Tunisian president promised on Friday that he would not become a dictator and denied allegations that he had staged a coup when two MPs were arrested following his decision to waive their immunity when he this week took control of the government.
Tunisia has been pushed into a political crisis by President Kais Saied’s on Sunday to fire the prime minister and freeze parliament for 30 days, prompting major parties to accuse him of a coup. Read more
Saied has not yet taken steps that critics say are needed to reassure Tunisians, including the appointment of an interim prime minister and a roadmap to end emergency measures.
“I know the texts of the Constitution very well, respect them and teach them, and after all this time I will not become a dictator, as some have said,” the presidency quoted the former law professor.
Concerns over rights and freedoms in Tunisia, a democracy since the 2011 revolution, rose Friday after the arrest of parliamentarian and influential blogger Yassin Ayari and the announcement of investigations into alleged violence by people protesting Saied’s actions during a demonstration on Monday.
The military judiciary said Ayari had been jailed by a court ruling three years ago for injuring the army. Saied on Sunday lifted the immunity of MPs, leaving anyone with cases against them vulnerable to arrest.
Another MP, Maher Zid from the conservative Muslim Karama party, was detained late Friday after being sentenced to two years in prison in 2018 for insulting people on social media and insulting the then president.
On Monday, the largest party in parliament, the moderate Islamist Ennahda, held a sit-in outside parliament after being surrounded by the army. Hundreds of supporters of Ennahda and Saied confronted each other, some throwing stones or bottles.
The judiciary said it had opened investigations of four people linked to Ennahda for “attempted acts of violence” during the protest, including a member of a party council and two members linked to its leader.
Saied’s move to seize executive control appears to have gained widespread popular support in Tunisia, where years of governance, corruption, political paralysis and economic stagnation have been exacerbated this year by a deadly rise in COVID-19 cases.
The United States on Friday delivered 1 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to Tunisia through the Covax program, according to the US Embassy in Tunis.
On Friday, Saied moved the country’s curfew against COVID-19 in the evening back to 22.00 from kl. 19 Despite the political crisis, there have been no signs of unrest in Tunisia since the protest outside parliament on Monday.
Washington has been a vocal supporter of Tunisian democracy since the revolution. Read more
“We call on President Saied to provide a clear roadmap and quickly lift emergency measures and liberate Parliament,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jalina Porter said Friday./ Reuters
