https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / News / African News RSS ← Back
Power|System
Power|System
power|system
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

Four Tunisian parties say president has lost his legitimacy

Close

Embed Video

Four Tunisian parties say president has lost his legitimacy

23rd September 2021

By: Reuters

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Four Tunisian parties said on Thursday that President Kais Saied has lost his legitimacy and called for an end to what they called a coup after he took control of legislative and executive powers.

Saied said on Wednesday he would rule by decree and ignore parts of the constitution as he prepared to change the political system.

Advertisement

Attayar, Al Jouhmouri, Akef and Ettakatol parties said in a joint statement that Saied's move enshrined an absolute power monopoly.

Saied has held nearly total power since July 25 when he sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority citing a national emergency.

Advertisement

Thursday's opposition statement increased the pressure on him. Although the four parties are not the most powerful, they hold influence in the streets, especially Attayar, which was close to Saied before his intervention.

"We consider the president has lost his legitimacy by violating the constitution.. and he will be responsible for all the possible repercussions of this dangerous step," the four parties said in the statement.

Anour Ben Kadour, a senior official in the powerful UGTT labour union, said: "Tunisia is heading towards absolute, individual rule."

UGTT, which has about one-million members and is a major force in Tunisian politics, has started a meeting to formulate a position on Saied's actions and is expected to issue a statement on Thursday.

While many Tunisians have backed Saied and see his actions as necessary to oust a corrupt and unpopular political elite after years of economic stagnation, his critics from across the spectrum say he is inexperienced and uncompromising.

The leader of Tunisia's powerful Islamist Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi, said on Wednesday that Saied's declarations meant cancelling the constitution. The party - the biggest in parliament - would not accept that, he said.

Saied's moves have undermined the democratic gains of Tunisia's 2011 revolution that ended autocratic rule and triggered the Arab Spring, despite his pledges to uphold the freedoms won a decade ago.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now