In less than two days, the Tunisian President, Kaïs Saïed, ordered the suspension of the work of the Parliament for one month, sacked the head of government Hichem Mechichi and granted himself the executive power.
Decisions taken at a time when the country is hit hard by an economic and social crisis accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
They arouse the anger of the main party in Parliament, Ennahdha, which blasted Monday "a coup against the Revolution and the Constitution".
On Tuesday July 27, the Islamist-inspired party however played appeasement, calling for dialogue and indicating that "for the sake of democratic life" it was "ready for the holding of simultaneous early legislative and presidential elections".
>> To read: Political crisis in Tunisia: the Prime Minister says he is ready to step down
For Déborah Perez, doctor in political science from Sciences-Po Aix and specialist in Tunisia, interviewed by France 24, the change in tone of Ennahdha can be explained by the fact that this party always puts forward, in its speech, "the interest of the nation and its unity".
France 24: After calling for people to take to the streets, the majority party in the Assembly, Ennahdha, plays appeasement and says it is ready for dialogue. The sign that the worst should be avoided
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Deborah Perez:
What strikes me since 2011 is the very strong capacity for dialogue of the various associative, union and political actors. The leaders of Ennahdha will want to be part of the negotiations that President Saïed intends to conduct. They will therefore not try to agitate the population to seek power struggles in the street, especially since I see many calls for national dialogue on social networks. They quickly denounced a coup, but today they are turning around with the desire to preserve the unity of the country. This is one of the characteristics of Ennahdha: its leaders do not want to divide society in a direct way. This is both their greatest strength and a weakness because if they always come back to the negotiating table in the most critical moments of crisis,their propensity to be systematically in the consensus and to refuse antagonisms does not help the establishment of a true alternation in Tunisia. Because to move a country, we must also accept the conflicting part of political life.
>> To see: Tunisia: "It has become a dictatorship in the hands of one man" denounces Yadh Ben Achour
Ennahdha had initially denounced a "coup" by President Kaïs Saïed. Has the latter exceeded his rights
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If it is a bit early to talk about a coup, it is certain that Kaïs Saïed went beyond what the Tunisian Constitution allowed him. Article 80 which he claims is an article more or less similar to article 16 of the French Constitution which provides for exceptional powers for the President of the Republic in the event of imminent danger to the integrity of the nation. But it is stipulated that these powers must be framed by the Constitutional Court. However, since the Constitution was written in 2014, it still does not exist, in particular due to the lack of will of the main parties in the Assembly - Ennahdha in the lead - who did everything to delay its establishment. . The absence of a Constitutional Court is now turning against these parties since Kaïs Saïed is not currently under any control.
Moreover, if Article 80 gives the president the right to dismiss his government, the Assembly must, on the other hand, continue to sit permanently.
Kaïs Saïed has yet unilaterally decided to freeze his work.
The Assembly has been closed since the evening of July 25 and is guarded by the army.
We are clearly in a dynamic of confiscation of power and as there is no Constitutional Court, the future of Tunisia rests on the probity of Kaïs Saïed.
Despite everything, does not its takeover of power respond to the demands of the demonstrators, who are very critical of the government's management of the economic and health crises that Tunisia is going through
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Yes, it is a way of responding to popular mobilization. Tunisia is mired in a crisis that does not date from yesterday. We have seen growing discontent among the population. The Tunisian dinar has lost two-thirds of its value since 2011 and the country's rating continues to be downgraded by rating agencies. Result: it is increasingly difficult for Tunisia to borrow money. In addition to the economic and social crisis, there is the health crisis with a very deadly fourth wave. There are currently between 150 and 200 deaths per day linked to Covid-19 which are in particular due to the lack of means in hospitals, the delay of the vaccination campaign, PCR tests which cost the equivalent of two Tunisian minimum wage and the lack of distribution of masks.
>> To read: In Tunisia, thousands of demonstrators march against their leaders
The Tunisian population attributes this mismanagement to the parties and the government.
The discredit of partisan cadres is increasingly strong and it is accompanied by a virulent anti-parliamentarism.
This was also seen in 2019. There was a significant contrast between the presidential election which had mobilized the population a lot while very few voters had come for the legislative elections.
However, the instability, delays, blockages, slowness in crisis management are also due to existing tensions between the Assembly and President Saïed, who has never hidden his contempt for political parties and the parliamentary system.
What role do the army and the police play in the current crisis
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Many observers like to wave the specter of an Egyptian scenario, but Tunisia has never been a military dictatorship.
What we can see is that the army is more on the reserve for the moment.
It supports the decisions of the President of the Republic but plays a fairly modest role.
It is content to be in a posture of defense of institutions.
On the other hand, the police let themselves go more to violence.
Although they have been around for a long time, red lines have been crossed in recent days, with a strong crackdown on demonstrations.
Despite everything, Tunisians now have ten years of democratic experimentation behind them.
It is a fact that fear has changed sides and that people no longer hesitate to take to the streets.
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