Tunisia: committee assigned to establish ‘new republic’ will carry out reforms

The Tunisian presidency announced on Wednesday that the “National Committee for the Establishment of a New Republic” will be responsible for carrying out reforms in the country, Anadolu has reported.

The announcement was made on the presidency’s Facebook page. The committee will have two sub-committees. “The first will be dedicated to constitutional and political reforms, and the second will undertake economic and social reforms.”

President Kais Saied announced the formation of this “supreme advisory committee” earlier this week in order to prepare for the establishment of a “new republic”. Another committee will conduct a dialogue in which “loyal persons” will participate in the “correction” movement that began last July, when Saied imposed his “exceptional measures” on the country.

The statement added that this advisory committee will submit its proposals according to the results of the online consultation process launched in January which ended on 20 March.

Saied’s measures included the suspension of parliament, the issue of legislation by presidential decree and the dismissal of the prime minister and his government. Opposition groups called this a “coup against the constitution”, while the president’s supporters described them as a “correction of the course of the 2011 revolution” which toppled former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.

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