- Tunisian leader sparks outrage by claiming ‘Zionist movement’ behind naming of storm that battered Libya CNN
- Tunisian president’s remarks on Storm Daniel have been denounced as antisemitic and prompt an uproar Yahoo News
- Tunisian leader claims ‘Zionist’ influence evident in naming of Storm Daniel The Times of Israel
- Tunisian president’s remarks on Storm Daniel have been denounced as antisemitic and prompt an uproar The Associated Press
- Saied says Zionist ‘penetration of minds’ behind naming of Storm Daniel Middle East Eye
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Tunisian
Tunisian leader sparks outrage by claiming ‘Zionist movement’ behind naming of storm that battered Libya – CNN
- Tunisian leader sparks outrage by claiming ‘Zionist movement’ behind naming of storm that battered Libya CNN
- Tunisian president’s remarks on Storm Daniel have been denounced as antisemitic and prompt an uproar Yahoo News
- Tunisian president’s remarks on Storm Daniel have been denounced as antisemitic and prompt an uproar The Associated Press
- Tunisian leader claims ‘Zionist’ influence evident in naming of Storm Daniel The Times of Israel
- Saied says Zionist ‘penetration of minds’ behind naming of Storm Daniel Middle East Eye
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tunisian leader claims ‘Zionist’ influence evident in naming of Storm Daniel – The Times of Israel
- Tunisian leader claims ‘Zionist’ influence evident in naming of Storm Daniel The Times of Israel
- Tunisian leader sparks outrage by claiming ‘Zionist movement’ behind naming of storm that battered Libya CNN
- Tunisian president’s remarks on Storm Daniel have been denounced as antisemitic and prompt an uproar Yahoo News
- Tunisian president’s remarks on Storm Daniel have been denounced as antisemitic and prompt an uproar The Associated Press
- Tunisian president remarks on storm Daniel africanews
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tunisian president plans to change political system, suspend constitution -adviser
TUNIS, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Tunisian President Kais Saied plans to suspend the constitution and may amend the political system via a referendum, one of his advisers told Reuters on Thursday in the first clear indication of his plans after moves his critics have called a coup.
More than six weeks after Saied seized governing powers, dismissed the prime minister and suspended parliament on July 25, he has still not appointed a new government or made any broader declaration of his long-term intentions.
“This system cannot continue … changing the system means changing the constitution through a referendum, perhaps … the referendum requires logistical preparation,” said Walid Hajjem, an adviser to Saied.
He added that this was the president’s plan, which was at the final stage and was expected to be formally unveiled soon, but he did not expand on what changes Saied was contemplating.
Saied’s intervention has thrust Tunisia into a constitutional crisis, raising concerns over the future of the democratic system it adopted after the 2011 revolution that led to the Arab Spring.
Saied has been widely expected to move to a presidential system of government that would reduce the role of the parliament, something that has been frequently discussed during years of gridlock since the 2014 constitution was agreed.
He has defended his moves as necessary and said they were in line with the constitution, promised to respect Tunisians’ rights and said he will not become a dictator.
However, arrests of parliament members after Saied lifted their immunity and numerous travel bans against prominent people have alarmed some rights advocates.
NEW GOVERNMENT
Both domestic and international forces have pushed for Saied to appoint a government and show how he means to exit the constitutional crisis caused by his intervention.
The head of Tunisia’s human rights league was quoted in a Tunisian newspaper on Thursday as saying that Saied had informed him that a new government would be appointed this week.
Tunisia faces grave economic problems and a looming threat to public finances, and had just started talks with the International Monetary Fund for a new loan programme when Saied ousted the prime minister.
Any further IMF talks could not take place until a new government was installed that could credibly discuss fiscal reforms wanted by foreign lenders.
Years of economic stagnation and declining public services, worsened by political paralysis, have soured many Tunisians on the form of democracy they adopted after the revolution, and Saied’s intervention appeared to have widespread support.
This week ambassadors from the G7 group of rich democracies urged Saied to appoint a government and return Tunisia to a constitutional order in which an elected parliament played a significant role.
Tunisia’s powerful labour union, the UGTT, has also urged him to appoint a government and start dialogue to change the political system. UGTT officials were not immediately available for comment.
Officials from the largest party in parliament, the moderate Islamist Ennahda, which has been the most vocal opponent of Saied’s moves, were also not immediately available for comment.
Reporting By Tarek Amara, writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Grant McCool
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Tunisian president says he will not become a dictator after MP arrest
TUNIS, July 30 (Reuters) – Tunisia’s president promised on Friday he would not turn into a dictator and rejected accusations he had staged a coup, as two parliament members were arrested following his decision to lift their immunity when he seized control of government this week.
Tunisia has been thrust into a political crisis by President Kais Saied’s move on Sunday to dismiss the prime minister and freeze parliament for 30 days, leading major parties to accuse him of a coup. read more
Saied has yet to carry out steps that critics say are needed to reassure Tunisians, including the appointment of an interim prime minister and a roadmap to end the emergency measures.
“I know the constitutional texts very well, respect them and taught them and after all this time I will not turn into a dictator as some have said,” the presidency quoted the former law professor saying.
Concerns over rights and freedoms in Tunisia, a democracy since the 2011 revolution, rose on Friday after the arrest of parliamentarian and influential blogger Yassin Ayari and the announcement of investigations into alleged violence by people protesting Saied’s actions during a demonstration on Monday.
The military judiciary said Ayari had been imprisoned by a judicial ruling issued three years ago for defaming the army. Saied on Sunday removed the immunity of parliament members, leaving any with cases against them vulnerable to arrest.
Another member of parliament, Maher Zid of the conservative Muslim Karama party, was detained late on Friday, according to his lawyer, after being sentenced to two years in prison in 2018 for offending people on social media and insulting the then president.
On Monday, the biggest party in parliament, the moderate Islamist Ennahda, held a sit-in outside parliament after it was surrounded by the army. Hundreds of supporters of Ennahda and Saied confronted each other, some throwing stones or bottles.
The judiciary said it had opened investigations into four people linked to Ennahda for “attempting to commit acts of violence” during the protest, including a member of a party council and two members with connections to its leader.
Saied’s move to seize executive control appears to have widespread popular support in Tunisia, where years of misgovernance, corruption, political paralysis and economic stagnation have been aggravated this year by a deadly surge in COVID-19 cases.
The United States on Friday delivered 1 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to Tunisia through the Covax programme, the U.S. embassy in Tunis said.
Saied on Friday moved the country’s COVID-19 nightly curfew back to 10 p.m. from 7 p.m. Despite the political crisis, there have been no signs of unrest in Tunisia since the protest outside parliament on Monday.
Washington has been a vocal supporter of Tunisian democracy since the revolution. read more
“We urge President Saied to provide a clear roadmap and quickly lift the emergency measures and unfreeze the parliament,” State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter said on Friday.
Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Alison Williams, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Joe Bavier, Clelia Oziel and Daniel Wallis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Tunisian president sacks prime minister, freezes parliament
TUNIS, July 25 (Reuters) – Tunisia’s president dismissed the government and froze parliament on Sunday in a dramatic escalation of a political crisis, prompting huge crowds to fill the capital in his support, but his opponents labelled the moves a coup.
President Kais Saied said he would assume executive authority with the assistance of a new prime minister, in the biggest challenge yet to a 2014 democratic constitution that split powers between president, prime minister and parliament.
Tunisians rose up in revolution in 2011 against decades of autocracy in the first eruption of the Arab Spring, installing a democratic system that ensured new freedoms and has navigated repeated crises, but which has not delivered economic prosperity.
Years of paralysis, corruption, declining state services and growing unemployment had already soured many Tunisians on their political system before the global pandemic hammered the economy last year and COVID-19 infection rates shot up this summer.
Major protests, called by social media activists but not backed by any of the big political parties, took place on Sunday with much of the anger focused on the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, the biggest in parliament.
Ennahda, banned before the revolution, has been the most consistently successful party since 2011 and a member of successive coalition governments.
“Many people were deceived by hypocrisy, treachery and robbery of the rights of the people,” Saied said in a statement carried on state media.
“I warn any who think of resorting to weapons… and whoever shoots a bullet, the armed forces will respond with bullets,” he added.
Soon after the statement, people flooded the streets of Tunis in defiance of a COVID-19 curfew, as supporters of Saied honked car horns and cheered the news.
“We have been relieved of them,” said Lamia Meftahi, a woman celebrating in central Tunis, speaking of the parliament and government.
“This is the happiest moment since the revolution,” she added.
‘DEFEND THE REVOLUTION’
The president has been enmeshed in political disputes with Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi for over a year, as the country grapples with an economic crisis, a looming fiscal crunch and a flailing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, the biggest in parliament, accused Saied of launching “a coup against the revolution and constitution” in a phone call to Reuters.
“We consider the institutions still standing, and the supporters of the Ennahda and the Tunisian people will defend the revolution,” he added, raising the prospect of confrontations between supporters of Ennahda and Saied.
In his statement, Saied said his actions were in line with Article 80 of the constitution, and also cited the article to suspend the immunity of members of parliament.
Saied and the parliament were both elected in separate popular votes in 2019, while Mechichi took office last summer, replacing another short-lived government.
Disputes over Tunisia’s constitution were intended to be settled by a constitutional court. However, seven years after the constitution was approved, the court has yet to be installed after disputes over the appointment of judges.
Reporting by Tarek Amara and Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Angus McDowall; editing by Jonathan Oatis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.