In Tunisia, the Prime Minister is embarking on the path of a peaceful transition.

The day after his dismissal by President Kaïs Saïed, who also suspended the activities of Parliament, Hichem Mechichi said he was ready, Monday, July 26, to cede power to the future Prime Minister appointed by the president. 

"I will ensure the transfer of power to the personality who will be appointed by the President of the Republic," said Hichem Mechichi, in his first statement since the measures on Sunday evening.

The ruling party, Ennahda, which supported Hichem Mechichi, had called them a "coup". 

Developments in Tunisia, a country often portrayed as the only successful Arab Spring, have raised concerns abroad.

France said it wanted a "return, as soon as possible, to normal functioning of the institutions" and called for avoiding any violence, while the United States, "concerned", called for "respect for democratic principles". 

Sunday evening, after a day of demonstrations in many cities of Tunisia, in particular against the management of the coronavirus epidemic by the Mechichi government, Kaïs Saïed sacked the latter and announced "the freezing" of the activities of Parliament for 30 days. 

The president, also head of the army, also granted himself executive power, disrupting the organization of power in a country governed since 2014 by a mixed parliamentary system, by announcing his intention to appoint a new prime minister. 

He also sacked Defense Minister Ibrahim Bartagi and government spokesperson Hasna Ben Slimane, also Minister of Civil Service and Acting Minister of Justice. 

Ennahda, the main party in Parliament, blasted "a coup against the revolution and the Constitution", and on Monday, its leader Rached Ghannouchi camped for twelve hours in front of the Parliament sealed off by the army, to demand it. 'access. 

04:51

"The State is there"

On the other hand, the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), an influential central trade union, considered that the decisions of Kaïs Saïed were "in conformity" with the Constitution, while calling for the continuation of the democratic process, more than ten years after the popular uprising that led to the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. 

Sign of the start of consultations, President Saïed met on Monday evening with representatives of the UGTT, the League of Human Rights and employers, actors who had pulled Tunisia from a previous crisis in 2013.  

"The situation has reached an unacceptable stage in all state institutions," said Kaïs Saïed after this meeting to justify his decisions, referring to "corruption".

"I reassure Tunisians that the State is there, and there is no question of infringing on rights and freedoms," he said, reiterating that these exceptional measures respect the Constitution according to him. 

For International Crisis Group analyst Michael Ayari, "there is an objective of restoring the efficiency of the State, but it will be necessary to make sure to involve a large number of actors": "we are in the process. 'unknown, with a risk of drifts including bloody ".

During the day, several hundred supporters of President Saïed and Ennahda exchanged bottles and stones in front of the Parliament in Tunis.

But then the situation returned to normal. 

The fear of going back  

According to Ennahda, the Bureau of the Assembly, meeting outside Parliament, called on the army and the security forces to "stand on the side of the people and fulfill their role of protecting the Constitution". 

The fear of a backtracking on freedoms was heightened after the closure on Monday of the office of the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera in Tunis by police, without a court decision or explanations.

Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders condemned the closure and called on the authorities to guarantee freedom of expression. 

At the end of the day, the presidency announced that the nighttime curfew officially established to fight Covid-19 had been extended by two hours, now from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

It also banned gatherings of more than three people.

This coup follows a six-month standoff between Rached Ghannouchi and Kaïs Saïed, which seemed hopeless in the absence of political dialogue.  

These upheavals marked by numerous crowd gatherings come as Tunisia, already hit by unemployment and inflation, faces an epidemic peak, with one of the worst official death rates in the world.

The country of 12 million people has officially recorded more than 560,000 cases of Covid, including more than 18,000 deaths. 

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR