Tunisian President Kais Saied on Thursday said he has no intentions to turn back from his decision to freeze parliament and take direct control of the country, a move that his opponents and political critics have branded a coup, reported France 24.
Late last month, President Saied dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and halted parliament’s operations following violent protests against the ruling party over the country’s political and economic crisis and crippling coronavirus rates. He also lifted the immunity of all parliament members and used a special constitutional measure allowing him to assume executive power.
Refuting the accusations of a coup, Saied said he acted under the constitution, which allows the head of state to take unspecified exceptional measures in the event of an imminent threat.
In a video published by the president’s office, Saied rejected calls for talks over the crisis. He said there is no dialogue except “with the honest” and that no dialogue was possible with “cancer cells.”
The Tunisian president’s statement came after the biggest party in the parliament, the moderate Islamist Ennahda, called for dialogue in a statement on Thursday.
Some 11 days after the surprising move, Saied is yet to name a new prime minister and announce any concrete steps to end the emergency. He has come under increasing pressure to reveal how he plans to exit the turmoil.
The powerful Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), a major powerbroker in the north African nation, as well as France and the United States have called on President Saied to quickly appoint a new government. The labor union is preparing a roadmap to end the crisis that it will soon present to the president.
In a joint statement published on Thursday, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and ranking member Jim Risch said they were deeply concerned by the growing tension and instability in Tunisia
“President Saied must recommit to the democratic principles that underpin US-Tunisia relations, and the military must observe its role in a constitutional democracy,” the statement said.
