In an article in the New York Times, the leader of the Ennahda movement and the speaker of the Tunisian parliament since 2019 Rached Ghannouchi wrote that his country was a dictatorship before and could not return to what it was.

Ghannouchi stated that on the morning of July 26, he and his colleagues, all of whom were democratically elected members of parliament, were surprised by army tanks surrounding the parliament building in the center of the capital, and the entrance to the members was closed by order of President Kais Saied.

This was preceded by a televised speech by the President the night before, in which he announced a series of measures, the most surprising of which were the suspension of the elected Legislative Council, the stripping of members of Parliament of parliamentary immunity, the dismissal of the Prime Minister, and the strengthening of judicial and executive power.

"By doing so, Saied seeks to reverse the results of a whole decade of hard work by Tunisians who fought for democratic reforms. I believe his actions are unconstitutional and threaten Tunisian democracy," Ghannouchi said.

He added that he staged a sit-in in front of the parliament building but eventually decided to leave and urged others to do so because he was worried about any possible confrontation that might lead to bloodshed, however, nearly a week has passed and the country is still in a dead end.

As Speaker of Parliament, he wrote these words in the hope of finding a way out of this crisis.

Ghannouchi said that Tunisians' dissatisfaction with the performance of the political leadership is legitimate, as the country witnessed a dangerous rise in cases of "Covid-19", and the health system struggled to respond effectively to the crisis, as the country faced a difficult economic situation and a protracted political crisis.

He recalled the beginning of the Arab Spring protests in the country more than a decade ago and how they were the reason for ending more than 5 decades of dictatorship that was characterized by rampant corruption, suppression of dissent and economic backwardness, and said that today's turmoil is not a search for freedom, but resentment against the march of progress. Economic.

One-man rule is not the solution to the country's economic problems, and dictatorship always leads to increased corruption, nepotism, violation of individual rights and inequality.

He added that the first Arab Spring protests produced Tunisia's 2014 constitution, which was widely hailed as one of the most progressive constitutions in the Arab world, but Said tore it up today.

A military vehicle in front of the closed Tunisian parliament (Reuters)

Ghannouchi hinted at the president's justification for his actions, which he said were in order to restore social peace to the country and that it was temporary.

He criticized these decisions as following the rules of the game to establish a dictatorial regime, as the president cited Article 80 of the constitution which allows him to take exceptional measures if there is an "imminent danger" threatening the nation.

He added that Article 80 also stipulates that the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament must be consulted before doing so, and that Parliament is in continuous session to supervise the actions of the President during this stage, and by suspending Parliament, he made the condition under which this article can be invoked impossible.

Ghannouchi went on to say that the president's moves are tearing apart the system of separation of powers based on the checks and balances established by the Tunisian people and their elected representatives.

He said that one-man rule is not the solution to the country's economic problems, and that dictatorship always leads to increased corruption, nepotism, violation of individual rights and inequality.

Ghannouchi hopes the president will reverse his decisions, and said there are a number of constructive steps he can take now, and Tunisia's Western and regional allies should support him in taking these steps.

He added that Parliament must be allowed to work to vote for a new government and embark on bold economic reforms to tackle the epidemic and unemployment.

He hopes that the President will initiate a national dialogue to find the best way out of this impasse.

He concluded his article by saying, “We must build on what we have achieved, instead of discarding democracy, as we have seen in the past how the gathering of all powers in the hands of one person has led our country to slip into darkness and despair because of the dictatorship.” Tunisia has overcome its problems through national dialogue in the past, and we We can do it again."