The Mercury E-dition

President ousts government

TUNISIA faced its worst crisis in a decade of democracy yesterday after President Kais Saied ousted the government and froze parliament with help from the army in a move denounced as a coup by the main parties including Islamists.

It follows months of deadlock and disputes pitting Saied, a political independent, against Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and a fragmented parliament as Tunisia has descended deeper into an economic crisis exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party which has played a role in successive coalitions, decried it as an assault on democracy and called on Tunisians to take to the streets in opposition.

Supporters and opponents of the president threw stones at each other outside parliament yesterday morning leading to injuries with one man bleeding from the head. Tunisia’s hard-currency bonds tumbled.

The army, which has yet to comment on Saied’s moves, deployed to the government palace in the Kasbah and stopped workers from entering the building yesterday. Troops also surrounded parliament and stopped Ghannouchi from going in. Al-Jazeera television said police had stormed its Tunis bureau and expelled staff.

Saied invoked the constitution to dismiss Mechichi and decree a freeze of parliament for 30 days, saying he would govern alongside a new premier.

Saied has yet to say when the new premier will be appointed. He said he would also replace the defence and justice ministers.

His actions follow a day of protests against the government and Ennahda, the biggest party in parliament, following a spike in Covid-19 cases and growing anger over chronic political dysfunction and economic malaise.

Hours after Saied’s announcement, huge crowds gathered to back him in Tunis and other cities, cheering while the military blocked off parliament and the state television station.

Saied, who swept to office in 2019 after campaigning as the scourge of a corrupt, incompetent elite, rejected accusations that he had conducted a coup. He said his actions were based on Article 80 of the constitution and framed them as a popular response to the economic and political paralysis that have mired Tunisia for years. The parties with the most seats in parliament said Article 80 did not support Saied’s move.

Saied also said that he had suspended the legal immunity of parliament members and that he was taking control of the general prosecutor’s office. He warned against any armed response to his actions. Saied has support from a wide array of Tunisians including both Islamists and leftists.

WORLD

en-za

2021-07-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://themercury.pressreader.com/article/281698322778407

African News Agency