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Tunisia president: ‘We work according to law and Constitution’

January 29, 2022 at 10:09 am

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied in Tunis, Tunisia on 15 December 2021 [FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images]

Tunisian President Kais Saied announced on Thursday that he operates according to the law and under the Constitution, indicating that anyone claiming otherwise is a “liar and a slanderer”.

This came during Saied’s speech at the opening of a meeting of the Council of Ministers at Carthage Palace in Tunis, according to a video posted by the Tunisian presidency on its Facebook page.

Saied added: “We work according to the law, under the Constitution and as per the legal texts that we issue during this (exceptional) period in the form of decrees and executive orders.”

“We also work according to the Constitution based on the two chapters relating to rights and freedoms. Anyone who claims otherwise is a liar and a slanderer and did not learn from history at all,” Saied asserted.

Earlier on Thursday, Speaker of parliament Rached Ghannouchi said: “The abolition of the Constitution by President Kais Saied represents a threat to Tunisian society.”

Ghannouchi stressed: “All the changes that have taken place since 25 July are null and void.”

26 January marks the eighth anniversary of the issuance of the Tunisian Constitution of 2014, after three years of a popular revolution that toppled former president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

READ: Tunisia: Ban of demonstrations extended for two weeks to reduce spread of COVID-19

In his speech, President Saied explained that he is: “Working to purify the country from those who desecrated it and took over its capabilities (without naming any party).”

“Let everyone know once again that sovereignty belongs to people that exercise it as per the Constitution, but the Constitution shall not be converted into a tool to control the power and sovereignty of the people,” Saied continued.

Tunisia has been suffering a severe political crisis since 25 July, when Saied imposed “exceptional measures”, including suspending parliament, issuing laws by presidential decrees, dismissing the prime minister and appointing a new government.

In his speech, Saied criticised the positions of the opposition and the alliances that are being formed against his decisions, stating: “The Constitution is formed to achieve its goals, not the goals of those who change daily and are involved in alliances that nobody expected to exist among a number of people who were opponents forever, but unfortunately they united for the time being.”

The Citizens Against the Coup campaign was formed last September by independent activists and was joined by figures from the far left, Islamists and nationalists. It also included those who worked with Saied during his presidency, such as the former political advisor to the presidency, Abdel Raouf Baladib.

Tunisia's president Kais Saied is bleeding the country - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]

Tunisia’s president Kais Saied is bleeding the country – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]