The effort by Kais Saied to take control of the country was seen as a threat to the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring protests. His opponents called it a “coup.”
CAIRO — Tunisia’s president late on Sunday said he was firing the prime minister, suspending Parliament and taking control of the country after large anti-government protests across a nation struggling with deepening health and economic crises.
The power grab by the president, Kais Saied, was seen as a major threat to the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring protests a decade ago. A leading political party, Ennahda, called it “a coup against the Tunisian democracy and its constitution” and “a betrayal of every Tunisian,” urging Mr. Saied to reverse his decisions immediately.
“Tunisia is the only Arab Spring’s success story and that story does not end here,” Ennahda said in a statement. “We call on every international supporter of democracy to come together to speak out immediately against this injustice and call for the immediate restoration of our Parliament.”
Sparked by the self-immolation of a fruit seller protesting brutal treatment at the hands of the police in late 2010, Tunisia’s revolution was the first in the series of Arab Spring uprisings that swept across the Middle East 10 years ago. It is the only country where some of the ideals of revolution have survived: Civil war undid Syria, Libya and Yemen; a counterrevolution reversed Egypt’s attempt at democracy; authoritarian governments quashed protests in others.
But while the North African nation may have achieved many of the trappings of a democracy after toppling its dictator, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, it has struggled with high unemployment, a sluggish economy, corruption and now the coronavirus pandemic, leaving many wondering whether the revolution was worth it.
Tunisia has suffered for years from high unemployment, poverty and economic paralysis that led many to question the gains of the 2011 revolution, and the coronavirus pandemic has recently overwhelmed the health system, with Tunisians dying of Covid-19 at the highest rate in the Middle East and Africa.
Its myriad problems have been compounded by political extremis in recent months as Mr. Saied faced off in a power struggle with Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and the speaker of Parliament, Rachid Ghannouchi.
Tunisia’s 2014 Constitution divides executive power between the president, the prime minister and the speaker of Parliament, and Mr. Saied has been hinting for months at expanding his authority as president by refusing to swear in ministers and blocking the formation of a constitutional court, raising alarm among opponents and political analysts.
In response to chaos in Tunisia’s Covid-19 vaccination rollout last week, Mr. Saied stripped control of Tunisia’s coronavirus response from the health ministry and handed it to the military.
The president announced in a statement broadcast on state media and posted to Facebook that he would dismiss Mr. Mechichi, assume executive power with the “help” of a new government appointed by him, “freeze” Parliament for 30 days and strip the immunity of lawmakers. He said he was doing this to preserve the country’s “security and independence and to protect the normal operation of state institutions.”
Mr. Saied’s actions came after large protests across the country on Sunday in which Tunisians called for the dissolution of Parliament. Videos posted to social media showed crowds cheering, honking, ululating and waving Tunisian flags after the president announced Mr. Mechichi’s dismissal late on Sunday night, the dark night lit up by red flares.
Other videos showed Mr. Saied making his way through a dense crowd of cheering supporters along Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the main thoroughfare of the capital, Tunis, where revolutionaries gathered during the 2011 protests that toppled its then dictator, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
The next step for Tunisia is unclear.
In his statement, Mr. Saied said cryptically that “a decree will be issued in the coming hours regulating these exceptional measures that the circumstances have dictated,” adding that the measures “will be lifted when those circumstances change.”
When Mr. Saied was elected in 2019 as an outsider to politics in what was the second free presidential vote in the country’s history, many Tunisians hoped he could turn things around. He still enjoys strong popularity and a reputation for incorruptibility among many in the country, and many Tunisians applauded his actions on Monday.
But after appointing Mr. Mechichi as prime minister last year, Mr. Saied later refused to swear in 11 ministers associated with the new head of government, leading to accusations that he was going beyond his constitutional powers.
Mr. Mechichi was backed by Mr. Gannouchi’s Ennahda party, which has consistently attracted support in parliamentary elections but whose strength has proved divisive because of its Islamist background.
Mr. Saied cited Article 80 of the Constitution, which he said permits the president exceptional powers, and said he had consulted both Mr. Mechichi and Mr. Gannouchi and held an emergency meeting with other officials before acting.
Article 80, however, accords the president such powers only if there is an imminent threat. And Mr. Gannouchi denied being consulted on Sunday in a statement on Ennahda’s Facebook page.
Mr. Gannouchi also decried what he called a “coup” and called the suspension of Parliament “unconstitutional, illegal and invalid.” The assembly “remains in place and will fulfill its duty,” he added.
Nada Rashwan contributed reporting from Cairo.
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