Tunisian President Kais Saied’s exceptional measures on Sunday hit the nail on the head. In an unexpected move, he dismissed the prime minister, froze the parliament for 30 days and temporarily removed parliamentary immunity enjoyed by lawmakers.
President Saied was simply responding to demands of angry protesters. Deteriorated economic conditions, an unprecedented surge in Covid-l9 infections and deaths, which challenged the government’s healthcare capabilities in addition to a political crisis that has been building for months were more than enough for many Tunisian people to tolerate.
Protesters who took to the streets in several cities called for the downfall of the government, led by Hicham Mechichi, who is supported by the terrorist MB-linked Ennahda party, and the dissolution of parliament headed by Rached al-Ghannouchi of Ennahda.
Actually, Saied’s response to the protests was quick and decisive amid political paralysis for which the 2014 constitution was responsible to a great extent. Under the constitution, to which Ennahda had contributed, executive power is shared between the president, the prime minister and parliament. And there has been a power struggle between the president and prime minister for months over the naming of some ministers of whom the former did not approve.
Moreover, disputes over the constitution were supposed to be settled by a constitutional court, which oddly enough, had not been in place for seven years due to disputes over the appointment of judges.
As a law professor, President Saied took these exceptional measures knowing that he could rely on an article in the constitution, which gives the president the authority to take such measures in case of an impending danger.
President Saied has made it clear in a televised address that Ennahda is posing a threat to the unity and integrity of the nation. Ennahda, an offshoot of the terrorist MB movement, which strongly emerged on the political arena following the 2011 Jasmine Revolution, has been much in control as a member of successive coalition governments since then.
Hardly can anyone avoid an analogy between what happened in Egypt in 2013 in face of the attempt of the Muslim Brothers (MB) to dominate the political and social landscape and the events taking place in Tunisia at present as an outcome of Ennahda’s political twists and turns since 2011.
Saied was indeed expecting a violent reaction from Ennahda to his temporary measures aimed to set the record straight. He, therefore, warned that whoever thinks of firing guns would be exposed to an avalanche of bullets fired by the armed forces. In straightforward words he also said that there were certain people ready to pay money to ignite internal conflict.
Parliament speaker Ghannouchi and other deputies of his supporters actually started resisting these measures by trying to force their way into parliament on Monday morning, but they were prevented by the security forces.
Despite Saied’s decisive measures, the power struggle is not expected to end soon because Ennahda will not easily give up its avid hunger for dominance. The party then will most probably rally its supporters on the street to create chaos.
How events unfold in the short while to come will mark a new chapter in the country’s march to redress its democratic course and secure political and social stability.
