Today, Monday, Tunisian President Kais Saied issued an order to relieve Prime Minister Hisham Al-Mashishi, Defense Minister Ibrahim Al-Bartajy and Acting Minister of Justice Hasna Bin Suleiman from their duties, while the Assembly of the Representatives of the People rejected the decisions of President Said, to freeze the work of Parliament and the government and to control the joints of the executive and judicial authorities in the country. .

The Tunisian presidency said - in a statement - that it was decided that the secretaries-general or those in charge of administrative and financial affairs - at the head of the government and the ministries of defense and justice - handle the administrative and financial affairs of the government, until a new president is named for it, and new members in it.

And yesterday, Sunday night, the Tunisian president announced the freezing of the parliament’s competencies, the lifting of immunity from his deputies and the dismissal of the prime minister. He also decided to take over the executive authority with the help of a prime minister who would appoint him himself, and to assume the presidency of the Public Prosecution Office to initiate judicial follow-up against those suspected of corruption around them.

Said said - after an emergency meeting he held at Carthage Palace with security and military officials - that he decided "- in accordance with the provisions of the constitution - to take measures required by (...) the situation, to save Tunisia, to save the Tunisian state and to save Tunisian society."


The Tunisian president added, "You will notice - without a doubt - public facilities are collapsing, and there are looting and war operations, and there are those who are preparing to pay money in some neighborhoods for internal fighting," stressing that he took these measures in consultation with the Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker Rashid Ghannouchi.

This morning, Reuters news agency quoted two security sources as saying that the Tunisian President assigned the Director-General of the Presidential Security Unit, Khaled Al Yahyaoui, to supervise the Ministry of Interior.

Parliament

On the other hand, the Assembly of the Representatives of the People (Parliament) announced - in a statement - its rejection and condemnation of the recent decisions of President Qais Saeed, and considered them invalid and violating the constitution.

After a remote session, the House of Representatives office announced - in a statement - that it is in a permanent session, blaming the Tunisian president for all the moral and legal consequences of his recent decisions, and also called on the Tunisian army to side with the ranks of the people, and to fulfill the oath to protect the constitution and preserve the prestige of the state and its institutions. Representatives to defend the values ​​of the republic and the people’s choice according to free and fair elections, and to reject all tendencies towards totalitarian and tyrannical autocracy, according to the statement’s description.

Earlier, the army forces at the parliament headquarters prevented the speaker of parliament, Rashid Ghannouchi, and a number of deputies from entering the parliament headquarters, and confirmed that they were closing it according to presidential instructions.

Ghannouchi - who started a sit-in this morning in front of Parliament after being prevented from entering the building - said that President Said's decisions "have no basis in the law or the constitution," describing them as a coup against the constitution, law, and private and public freedoms.


Ghannouchi expressed his dissatisfaction with these decisions, and said that he considered that the elected state institutions - such as the House of Representatives and the government - exist, describing President Said's interpretation as wrong.

Ghannouchi published - on his Facebook page - an invitation to join the parliament headquarters to defend democracy and revolution, he said.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is carrying out his sit-in in a black car, accompanied by deputies from the Ennahda Movement, which he heads.

He denied that the President had consulted with him on the measures he had taken.

labor union

On the other hand, the Tunisian Labor Union - the most powerful trade union organization in Tunisia - said that the exceptional measures taken by President Said must be accompanied by constitutional guarantees, adding - in a statement - that "care must be taken to adhere to constitutional legitimacy and to ensure the continuation of the democratic path, and respect for rights and freedoms." and resorting to democratic mechanisms in any change.

The Tunisian Labor Union expressed its rejection of any party's resort to violence and the policy of healing and settling accounts, and called on all parties to distance the military establishment from political quarrels, and the union said that its Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi of the union will meet with President Said later today.

The head of the Independent High Authority for Elections in Tunisia, Nabil Baffoun, described the decisions of President Said as inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution, and Bafon added that the 80th article on which the president relied imposes the permanent sitting of Parliament even in exceptional cases, and made it clear that it is not possible to go to early elections in a vacuum. At the level of authority, because the constitution specified this only in the event of the dissolution of Parliament, and this is not available.

The head of the Supreme Electoral Commission indicated that the commission is not only a technical body, but a constitutional one, and the only reference for holding early elections is the constitution.

Political forces

The "Heart of Tunisia" bloc - which is the second largest bloc in Parliament - rejected the decisions of the President of the Republic, describing them as a "grave breach of the constitution", and expressed its adherence to electoral legitimacy and respect for the law and institutions. An institutional vacuum, and the party urged the army and security to adhere to their historical role in protecting the state and its institutions and the values ​​of the republic and revolution.

In the same direction, the "Tunisian Democratic Current" party announced that it disagrees with President Said regarding the interpretation of Chapter 80 of the constitution, and the movement said that it rejects all decisions and measures taken outside the provisions of the constitution.

The "Heart of Tunisia" bloc - which is the second largest bloc in parliament - rejected the decisions of the President of the Republic, describing them as a "grave breach of the constitution", and expressed its adherence to electoral legitimacy and respect for the law and institutions.

The Democratic Current Party called on the President of the Republic and all national forces and organizations to unite efforts to get out of the crisis, by respecting democracy, human rights and resisting financial corruption. At the same time, the party's statement held the ruling coalition - led by the Ennahda Movement and the Mishchi government - responsible for the popular congestion and the social, economic and health crisis.

The Labor Party stated that what President Said did was a clear violation of the constitution and a monopoly of all powers in his hands.

On the other hand, the "People's Movement" party in Tunisia expressed its support for President Said's decisions, and considered them a way to correct the course of the revolution that had been violated by the Ennahda movement and the ruling system, according to a statement by the party, which is nationalistically oriented and opposed to the Mishchi government. It called on the presidency to preserve freedoms;

He also called on Tunisians to maintain the peace of their movements.

security and military

Meanwhile, the surroundings of Parliament are witnessing gatherings of supporters and opponents of the country's president's decisions amid heavy security activity, and Reuters news agency reported that the army was deployed in the government headquarters in the Kasbah in the capital, Tunis, and prevented employees from entering or leaving the building.

Well-informed sources confirmed to Al Jazeera that Prime Minister Al-Mashishi is at his home, not under arrest, and intends to convene the Council of Ministers.

It is noteworthy that Tunisia has been living for months with an escalating political and economic crisis in light of a conflict of powers between the presidencies of the republic, parliament and the government, and the dire situation was exacerbated by the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in the country in light of the collapse of the health system.