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Bahrain backs Tunisia president's measures

August 5, 2021 at 1:52 pm

Foreign Minister of Tunisia, Othman Jerandi in Berlin, Germany on 23 June 2021 [Thomas Imo/photothek.de/Pool/Anadolu Agency]

Bahrain has shown “absolute support and full confidence” in the recent measures taken by the President Kais Saied, the Tunisian Foreign Minister, Othman Jerandi, announced yesterday.

Following a phone call with his counterpart Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Jerdani said that Bahrain was “fully confident in the wisdom of the President in favour of national security and prosperity in the world.”

“I reassured him [Al-Zayani] about the situation including the decision of President Saied to resort to the constitution to address the situation that has become a threat to stability,” he added.

Jerandi stressed that Saied’s decisions were based on the “provisions of Article 80 of the 2014 constitution,” noting that the move aimed at “preserving the security of the Tunisian state and the stability of its institutions following the recent political tensions and aggravation of the economic and social crisis.”

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On 25 July, Tunisian President Kais Saied cited Article 80 of the constitution to dismiss Prime Minister Hicham Mechichi, freeze the work of parliament for 30 days, lift the immunity of ministers, and appoint himself as head of the executive authority until the formation of a new government.

This comes after violent protests broke out in several Tunisian cities criticising the government’s handling of the economy and the coronavirus. Demonstrators had called for parliament to be dissolved.

The majority of the country’s political parties slammed the move as a “coup against the constitution” and the achievements of the 2011 revolution.