Tunisia, Saied squeeze: twenty senior government officials removed

• Tunisia, the president freezes Parliament and responds to accusations: "It is not a coup d'etat"

• Tunisia.

  President freezes parliament and fires premier

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July 28, 2021 - Tunisian president, Kais Saied, removed twenty senior government officials two days after he froze parliamentary activity and assumed executive power, firing Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi. This was reported by the Tunisian agency Tap, which cites the latest presidential decrees.

The dismissed officials include the Attorney General, Tawfiq al Ayouni; the general secretary of the government, Walid al Dhahabi; the chief of staff, Al Muizz, and numerous advisers from Mechichi. 

Saied had already removed the defense, interior and justice ministers, imposing a night curfew in the country until 27 August and banning gatherings of more than three people in public places. For Ennahda - the Tunisian Islamic party, the leading political force in Parliament, severely hit by the president's Sunday evening 'purges' - Saied's decisions are "unconstitutional". In the past few hours, the Tunisian Foreign Minister, Othman Jerandi, has had talks with his counterparts in Morocco, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

After the Arab Spring of 2011, the country considered the only true democracy in the region is facing an unprecedented crisis, with the unemployment rate at 18%. The ruling Ennahda party was unable to cope with the economic situation aggravated by the arrival of the coronavirus: to date, only 7% of the population is fully vaccinated, while over 90% of ICU beds are occupied, according to data of the Ministry of Health.

Angered by the economic malaise and mismanagement of the pandemic, thousands of protesters defied restrictions imposed on Sunday to avoid contagion and scorching heat in the capital.

Tunis, to ask for the dissolution of Parliament. The crowd, largely made up of young people, called for early elections and new economic reforms. The officers used tear gas to disperse some of the demonstrators, who had thrown objects at them, and made several arrests.

The president then announced that he had 'deposed' the prime minister and suspended parliament due to concerns about the maintenance of public order. The former Prime Minister Mechichi himself has published a statement on his official Facebook page in which he takes stock of his work and announces that he accepts the decisions taken by the head of state. "I will pass on my responsibilities to the person who will be appointed by the President of the Republic according to the traditions of the state, wishing the new government team success," he says. 

Meanwhile, international pressure on the restoration of institutional stability is increasing. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had a telephone conversation with the Tunisian president on the night between Monday and Tuesday and urged him to "adhere to the principles of democracy and human rights". The head of diplomacy in Brussels, Josep Borrell, asked Saied "to restore parliamentary activity, respect for fundamental rights and refrain from any form of violence".