Tunisian Parties reject Kais Saied’s decisions: 'the President has deepened the crisis'

Three Tunisian parties announced on Tuesday, 14 December 2021, their rejection and condemnation of President Kais Saied’s declared decisions, describing them as a “critical turn”.

The Coordination of Social Democratic Parties, which includes the Democratic Current, the Democratic Alliance for Labour and Freedoms (FDTL), the Republican Party, and the Alliance for Tunisia Party, said in a statement that “President Saied has deepened the crisis that the country is witnessing by his coup against the constitution”.

The statement added: “Social democratic parties seek to present urgent and structural proposals to get out of the crisis and to open debate before specialists and the Tunisian general public.”

For his part, Khalil Al-Zawiya, Head of the Democratic Alliance for Labour and Freedoms, said in a speech during the seminar that “the President’s discourse is a soft-power coup and a critical turn through which he continued to violate the constitution and its legitimacy. Today, he turned against all forms of freedom defence and democracy.” Al-Zawiya added: “All national and civil forces must confront these measures that would ravage the country.”

For his part, Ghazi Al-Chaouchi, Secretary-General of the Democratic Current Party, confirmed that his party, along with the rest of social democratic parties, “absolutely reject the President’s decisions”, that they (the three parties) would exert their full potential to confront these decisions, to escalate and take actions, including going out to the streets and protesting.”

In the same context, Issam Al-Chabbi, Secretary-General of the Republican Party, said: “Saied continues to divide Tunisians and proceeds with his coup against the democratic path and the legitimacy of the constitution; he relies on his own opinion with all decisions.”

READ: No one is above the president in Tunisia, experts say

Al-Chabbi said: “It is necessary to go to early elections, but this does not work unless reaching a national consensus, which includes all national forces in the country and does not adopt exclusion and opinion imposing.”

On the other hand, the Coalition for Tunisia Party considered, in a statement, that the content of Saied’s speech “expresses the aspirations of the majority of the Tunisian people,” and added that “the announced decisions clarify the way for a coming year, culminates in democratic elections that restore the legislative establishment to its role in supporting the foundations of the State and its sovereignty.

This comes after Saied’s speech a few days ago, on the anniversary of the 17 December, 2010 revolution, which overthrew the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (1987-2011), in which Saied announced the continuation of freezing Parliament’s powers until holding early elections on December 17, 2022.

He stated that “the bills of constitutional reform and others would be issued on 25 July, in addition to other reforms relating to holding elections without interference from any party and away from previous laws.”

Is Tunisia’s president Kais Saied like Louis XIV, King of France? – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]