Tunisian intellectuals and activists expressed in an open appeal their rejection of the decisions taken by President Kais Saied since he announced the freezing of parliament and the dismissal of the government last week, and considered this a "coup against the constitution", while the street awaits the president's announcement of the new prime minister, coinciding with his dismissal of two ministers and his promise again to the corrupt. by accounting.

A number of Tunisian intellectuals, academics, civil activists and politicians issued an appeal to national and international public opinion, expressing their categorical rejection of what they said was a coup against the constitution, and called on the president to end the "extraordinary arbitrary measures" announced by him, return to constitutional legitimacy, and resume the House of Representatives. for his work.

The authors of the statement said that Chapter 80 of the Constitution does not authorize the President of the Republic to take the aforementioned measures, and they also expressed their deep fear of the successive attacks on individual liberties, human rights and freedom of the media.

Among the most prominent signatories to the statement are Mahdi al-Mabrouk, former Minister of Culture, and union leader Abd al-Salam al-Kikli.

Said says that his exceptional measures are based on Chapter 80 of the Constitution, and aim to save the Tunisian state, in light of popular protests against political, economic and health crises (the Corona pandemic).

However, most Tunisian parties rejected these measures, and some considered them a coup against the constitution, while other parties supported them and saw them as a correction of the course.


deepening political crisis

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Tunisian Workers' Party, Hamma Hammami, said that what President Said has done since the 25th of last month is a coup against the constitution and democratic principles.

In an interview with a local radio station, Hammami held the Ennahda movement primarily responsible for the crises that Tunisia has been going through 10 years ago.

Hammami also considered President Saeed a part of the ruling system, and accused him of deepening the political crisis that turned into a war of bone breaking over the past two years, as he put it.

Hammami said that the violation of freedoms and travel bans, and security and military raids on the homes of some political activists, are practices reminiscent of "the bygone era", calling what he described as democratic and progressive forces to meet on a concrete program against both the Ennahda movement and President Said.

economic head of government

On the other hand, MP from the People's Movement, Heikal Al-Makki, suggested that the name of the expected prime minister would be announced within the next few hours, at the latest, by the end of the day, Tuesday.

Informed sources also suggested that President Saeed would assign an economic figure to head the government, given the severe economic crisis the country is facing.

The names of Central Bank Governor Marwan Abbasi and former Finance Minister Nizar Yaish are circulating in Tunisia, and the Tunisian presidency has not issued any comment on what is being circulated so far.

Meanwhile, the Tunisian presidency announced the exemption of Finance Minister Ali Al-Kaali and Minister of Communication Technologies Muhammad Al-Fadil Karim from their duties, and assigning Siham Al-Boughdiri and Nizar Bennaji to run the two ministries.

In his latest statements, the Tunisian president said that he will stick to the covenant until the people's demands are fulfilled, adding, "We stress that everyone who stole the people's money will be held accountable."


sit-in and siege

In the context of judicial follow-up, the military court in Tunisia decided yesterday, Monday, to cancel an arrest warrant for a lawyer and 4 parliamentarians from the "Dignity Coalition", pending the completion of legal procedures against them.

The first investigative judge at the Permanent Military Court in Tunis issued a permit to stop the judicial search of lawyer Mahdi Zagrouba, MPs Seif El-Din Makhlouf, Nidal Al-Saudi, Abdel-Latif Al-Alawi, and Muhammad Al-Afas, pending the completion of the rest of the legal procedures against them.

And sources from the National Authority of Tunisian Lawyers - to Al-Jazeera - reported that large security forces were besieging the first instance court in the capital, as well as the deployment of forces inside it to arrest lawyer Mahdi Zagrouba.

Tunisian lawyer Mahdi Zagrouba is protesting at the headquarters of the Tunisian Lawyers' Deanship, refusing to refer him to the military judiciary in what is known as the airport storming case, demanding that he appear before a judicial, not a military, investigation.

A number of Tunisian lawyers confirmed the presence of members of the security forces in the vicinity of the court, where the Dean of Lawyers is located, with the aim of arresting lawyer Zagrouba.

It is noteworthy that a security syndicate had filed a case against the head of the Al-Karama Coalition, Seif El-Din Makhlouf, and a number of coalition members, on charges of assaulting security agents at Tunis-Carthage International Airport, in what is known as the airport storming incident that took place on the 15th of last March.


Turkey and Algeria

On the diplomatic front, the Turkish presidency announced on Monday evening that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured Qais Saeed in a phone call the importance of preserving Tunisia's stability and internal peace.

The Turkish presidency added that Erdogan stressed the need to continue the work of the Tunisian parliament, considering it an important matter for Tunisia's democracy and the region.

In the same context, Tunisian President Kais Saied received Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ramtane Lamamra on Sunday.

And the Tunisian presidency website on Facebook said that the Algerian minister carried an oral message from Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to the Tunisian president.

The Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs pointed out that his visit to Tunisia to meet President Kais Saied came upon a mandate from the Algerian president, in a tour that started in Tunisia and includes Arab and African countries, related to upcoming benefits, including the Arab Summit.

The President of the Republic #Qais_Said receives the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ramtane Lamamra, carrying an oral message from his brother, the Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

#TnPR pic.twitter.com/uCbN8CaA7O

— Tunisian Presidency (@TnPresidency) August 1, 2021

And earlier on Sunday, Cairo announced that there is consensus between Egypt and Algeria towards full support for President Said, and for everything that would maintain stability in Tunisia, according to a statement by the presidency after a meeting between the President of Egypt and the Foreign Minister of Algeria, while an Algerian statement about their discussions did not address the matter. Tunisian.