Dismissed Tunisia Parliament calls for comprehensive national dialogue

The Tunisian Parliament on Monday renewed its call on President Kais Saied for a “comprehensive national dialogue that would bring the country out of its stifling crisis, push for major reforms, and guarantee a return to democracy as an option in which the will of Tunisians has settled.”

In a statement published on the official page of Parliamentary Speaker, Rached Ghannouchi, the legislators, who were dismissed as part of the president’s ‘coup’, said they were following up “on political and social developments in this critical period in Tunisia’s history.”

The statement affirmed “the legitimacy of Law No. 38 related to those whose unemployment has been prolonged, which was previously ratified by Parliament, and the President took his stamp and permission to publish it in the Official Gazette.”

“His seal makes its implementation a duty within the logic of the state’s continuity and respect for its commitments to its citizens.”

READ: Tunisian ex-foreign minister calls on president to return to constitution or quit

The law relates to exceptional provisions for those whose unemployment exceeds ten years.

Saied has held nearly total power since 25 July when he sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament, and assumed executive authority citing a national emergency.

He appointed a prime minister on 29 September and a government has since been formed.

The majority of the country’s political parties slammed the move as a “coup against the constitution” and the achievements of the 2011 revolution. Critics say Saied’s decisions have strengthened the powers of the presidency at the expense of parliament and the government, and that he aims to transform the country’s government into a presidential system.

On more than one occasion, Saied, who began a five-year presidential term in 2019, said that his exceptional decisions are not a coup, but rather measures within the framework of the constitution to protect the state from “imminent danger”.

Is Tunisia’s state of emergency being used to restrict freedoms? – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]