Tunisia president: Europe must realise ‘25 July course’ is necessary

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Friday emphasised the need for: “The European side to realise that the course of 25 July, 2021, was necessary to save the state.”

This came according to a statement by the Tunisian Presidency after Saied met with European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders in the capital, Tunis, in the presence of Minister of Justice Leila Jaffel.

The statement added that Saied: “Explained that the reality of the situation in Tunisia is contrary to what is promoted by some circles at home and abroad.”

The statement continued that the president: “Expressed the need for the European side to realise, and it is certainly aware of many facts and details, that the course that was launched on 25 July, 2021, was necessary to save the state and the homeland, and the final decision will be for the sovereign Tunisian people.”

Saied affirmed: “The situations cannot be corrected except with a fair judiciary before which everyone is equal.”

Saied touched on: “The time-honoured Tunisian experience in law compared to many European countries, such as the notion of the constitution, electoral law, women’s rights and others. History does not go back, and freedoms are not texts but must be practised at all times. Justice is neither a motto nor palaces; it must be applied in all fields.”

He continued: “Those who talk about assassinations move freely within the state’s territory, leave Tunisia and return to it freely, then falsely and slanderously claim that they are victims of the dictatorship. The Tunisian people protect their state and protect their homeland, and the judiciary must play its role in imposing respecting of the law since some seek to overthrow the state, its institutions and disrupt its public facilities by all ways and means.”

Since 25 July, 2021, Tunisia has been experiencing a severe political crisis when Saied imposed exceptional measures, including the dismissal of the government and the appointment of a new one, dissolving the Supreme Judicial Council and Parliament, the issuance of legislation by presidential decrees, approval of a new Constitution through a referendum that was held on 25 July, and setting an early date for the parliamentary elections to be held on 17 December, 2021.

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