Tunisia president fires national radio chief

Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday dismissed the interim head of the national radio, Chokri Cheniti, from his post five months after his appointment.

Al Jazeera reported that Saied’s move was the latest since he dissolved the Supreme Judiciary Council. Saied appointed Cheniti as the temporary head of national radio, Radio Tunisienne, in September. He did not name a replacement for Cheniti.

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.

READ: Tunisia president vows to cleanse political arena through legal means

He appointed a prime minister on 29 September and a government has since been formed. Last month, Saied announced that a referendum will be held on 25 July to consider ‘constitutional reforms’ and elections would follow in December 2022.

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