Tunisia -

In a surprising move, Tunisian President Kais Saied announced, in a televised speech on Sunday evening, the activation of Chapter (Article) 80 of the constitution, the termination of the duties of Prime Minister Hisham Al-Mashishi, the freezing of Parliament for 30 days, the lifting of immunity from his deputies, and his assumption of the executive authority with the help of the government appointed by the President of the Republic.

Article (80) of the constitution represents a point of contention between political parties and constitutional law professors, who were divided between a supporter of Said's interpretation of its content and an opponent of it.

This article consists of 3 paragraphs, the first of which states that “the President of the Republic, in the event of an imminent danger threatening the entity of the country, the security and independence of the country, with which it is impossible for the normal functioning of the wheels of the state, to take the measures necessitated by that exceptional situation, after consulting the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Assembly of the People’s Representatives.” Inform the President of the Constitutional Court, and announce the measures in a statement to the people.

According to the second paragraph, "these measures must aim to ensure the return to the normal functioning of the state's wheels as soon as possible, and Parliament is in permanent session throughout this period. In this case, the President of the Republic may not dissolve Parliament, nor may a motion of censure against the government be submitted."

As for the third paragraph, it says, “After 30 days have passed from the entry into force of these measures, and at all times thereafter, the Constitutional Court is entrusted at the request of the Speaker of Parliament, or 30 of its members, to decide whether or not the exceptional situation should continue.”

The same paragraph also stipulates that “the court declares its decision publicly within a maximum period of 15 days, and the work of these measures is terminated when their reasons cease to exist, and the President of the Republic sends a statement in this regard to the people.”

In response to this, Professor of Constitutional Law Abdel Razek Al-Mukhtar spoke about the constitutionality of the President’s interpretation of Article 80, the consequences of his decisions, alternatives to the dissolved government and the frozen parliament to confront these measures.

Tunisians protest in front of Parliament, which announced its freezing (Al-Jazeera)

Constitutional or not?

Al-Mukhtar considered, in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, that the interpretation of the President of the Republic is unconstitutional, due to the absence of the condition for the existence of the Constitutional Court.

He believed that the "so-called responsible president" provided the Tunisians with the so-called "constitutional fait accompli".

He stressed the danger of the court's absence as a supervisory guarantee "over the so-called constitutional nuclear bomb, which is Chapter 80, which means that we are facing procedures in which the President of the Republic used absolute powers without oversight."

Al-Mukhtar said that this chapter of the constitution is based on a set of clear elements to activate it, namely the non-dissolution of the government, the permanent session of Parliament, cooperation and consultation between various institutions, and the inability to direct a list of blame to the government as a whole.

The constitutional expert considered that what Saeed had done was a re-engineering of the authorities by collecting the judiciary in his person, declaring himself head of the Public Prosecution, freezing “an unconstitutional term” Parliament, and appointing “a very dangerous matter” a Prime Minister (Prime Minister).

In his opinion, these were "data that indicate that we are facing a complete redrawing of the constitutional and institutional landscape, without using the procedures authorized to do so, which is to amend the constitution."

Professor of Constitutional Law Abdul Majeed Al-Abdali (Al-Jazeera)

Related to other texts

On the other hand, Professor of Constitutional Law Abdul Majeed Al-Abdali believes that the constitution does not consist only of Chapter (80), but of several other interrelated articles that fall within the framework of the section devoted to the President of the Republic.

He adds to Al Jazeera Net that (80) is linked to Chapter (72), which concerns the President of the Republic, and stipulates that "the head of state guarantees the independence and continuity of the state."

In other chapters, the President of the Republic also takes exceptional measures to protect the state from internal and external dangers.

According to Al-Abdali, “when we read Chapter 80 isolated from the rest of the articles, as if we tailored the constitution to size,” but in his opinion, “all conditions are available for Qais Saeed to take such decisions, so what does it mean that we record 300 deaths in Corona daily, and the country is collapsing and the state in itself is threatened?” .


What are the consequences of Saeed's decisions?

The chosen constitutional expert believes that Tunisia will enter into a conflict between the legislative, executive and judicial authorities, which (the judiciary) must take a position on what is happening as the authority of the Supreme Judicial Council.

In his opinion, the country will witness a different alignment of political forces between those who support the president and those who oppose him.

In addition to the intervention of local actors from national organizations, and international actors, stressing that it does not call for international intervention.

As for Abdali, it is likely that Saeed will yearn for the presidential system at a time when the constitution approves a parliamentary system.

Moreover, the president did not dissolve parliament, but rather froze it, and the freeze is always temporary.

According to his estimation, he will either dissolve parliament, which is not possible, or continue to freeze it.

Note that he will naturally enter his parliamentary recess in early August.

Al-Abdali described the country's current situation as deteriorating and very miserable.

He said that the constitutional institutions after 2011 "do not respond to a satisfactory solution to the country's situation, so there is a possibility for us to enter into more serious disputes than that."

What solutions are available?

According to Al-Mukhtar, Tunisia has entered the phase of the "free electron", which means moving without any clear logic, in which all scenarios are expected every moment, and with a strange interweaving between the various elements and the interfering.

Therefore, he wonders, "Legitimacy will return no matter how long it takes, but at what cost?"

In turn, Abdali believes that the frozen parliament and the dissolved government have no choice.

He said, "In my opinion, the president makes a mistake if he has nostalgia for the presidential system. I rule this out because the constitution does not allow him to do so, and in the Tunisian case there are more questions than answers."