Tunisia party calls for non-participation in president's ‘national dialogue’

The Tunisian Workers’ Party has called on political parties in Tunisia not to participate in President Kais Saied’s “national dialogue”.

This came after Saied released a statement in which he said, “the national dialogue has commenced, and it will be based on the results of the electronic consultation (e-survey) in order to prepare for organising a referendum (in July), and then holding free and fair legislative elections in December supervised by the Independent High Authority for Elections.”

The party denounced Saied’s statements, which it said were directed at the European Parliament delegation which was visiting Tunisia this week and not aimed at the Tunisian people.

It called for “not being engaged in the fraudulent dialogue of Kais Saied and his destructive populist project.”

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There was no comment from the president’s office regarding the Tunisia Workers’ Party’s statement at the time of going to press.

In mid-January, Saied launched “electronic national consultation” with the aim of “enhancing citizens’ participation in the democratic transition process”, which continued until 20 March.

The results of the consultation announced on Friday, showed the participation of nearly half a million people, and the desire of 86.4 per cent of the participants to switch to a presidential system in the country.

On Monday, the European Parliament delegation began a three-day visit aimed at holding consultations on Tunisia’s “path towards political reforms and a return to institutional stability,” according to a statement by the EU mission in Tunisia.

Since 25 July 2021, Tunisia has witnessed a political crisis after Saied began imposing exceptional measures, including: dissolving parliament and the Judicial Council and issuing legislation by presidential decrees.