Seven weeks after Kaïs Saïed linked the grip on power in Tunisia in what his opponents describe as a coup, the president is now giving his clearest message to date on how he intends to proceed.

Saied says that the constitution from 2014 must be respected, but that changes in it need to be made.

- Additions must be made within the constitution's framework, he says to state television.

Received broad criticism

The North African country has been in a power vacuum since July 25, when Saïed fired the country's prime minister and closed parliament indefinitely, citing emergency measures in the constitution.

The constitution has received widespread criticism in Tunisia, where political leaders have either wanted to see more power for the presidency, or a stronger parliamentary system.

To make additions or changes to Tunisia's constitution requires a two - thirds majority in parliament, a point that Saïed described as a threat to the nation.

The western world worried

The members of the current parliament were elected in 2019 and took office a week before Saïed came to power.

The president does not have formal power to dissolve parliament and call new elections, but some politicians in the divided house have suggested that they may do so themselves.

The Western world has been concerned about the continued absence of a Tunisian government, which is also grappling with a pandemic and an economic crisis.

The currently largest party, Ennahda, says that deviations from the constitution mean a decline for democracy, while the largest trade union UGTT has signaled that it would rather see new elections.

Javascript is disabled

Javascript must be turned on to play video

Read more about browser support

The browser is not supported

SVT does not support playback in your browser.

We therefore recommend that you switch to another browser.

Read more about browser support

Look at the motley road that led to the government crisis in Tunisia.

Photo: Fethi Belaid / TT