Ex-Tunisia president calls for protests to oust Saied

Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki yesterday called on citizens to protest and call for the “departure of the incumbent President Kais Saied.”

“We must end this funny period from Tunisia’s  history,” Marzouk said on Facebook, referring to the period after 25 July, when Saied assumed executive authority and dissolved the parliament.

Marzouki urged the Tunisian army and security forces “to lift protection against Saied,” explaining that they are expected to ”serve the country, not an illegitimate and incompetent president.”

“Tunisians must take to the streets for the next two months to oust Saied,” he reiterated.

Tunisian authorities have not issued a comment on the former president’s statement.

READ: Hundreds rally in Tunisia to support Saied’s measures

Tunisia has been mired in a severe political crisis since 25 July when Saied imposed exceptional measures, including the dissolution of parliament, the abolition of the constitutionality monitoring body, the issuance of legislation by presidential decrees, and the dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council.

The measures were described by some politicians as a “coup against the constitution”, while others see them as a “correction of the course of the 2011 revolution.”

Is Tunisia slipping into a dangerous pitfall?- Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]