The suspended presidency of the Tunisian parliament, the Secretary-General of the Labor Union and the Supreme Judicial Council criticized the recent measures taken by President Kais Saied after last July 25.

In turn, Tunisian President Kais Saied said that his country is open to consultation and cooperation with brotherly and friendly countries without guardianship or interference in their internal affairs, as he put it.

Parliament Speaker and Head of Ennahda Movement Rached Ghannouchi said in a statement posted on his Facebook page, today, Wednesday, that the continuation of the systematic campaign against the House of Representatives is a blow to the values ​​of the republic and an insult to the prestige of the state.

Ghannouchi added that the House of Representatives is subjected to a systematic campaign to demonize and distort the most important elected constitutional institution.

He pointed out that President Saeed's decision to stop disbursing Parliament grants continues to violate Chapter 80 of the Constitution, considering that this decision has serious social and humanitarian repercussions.

The Presidency of Parliament called on President Kais Saied to retract the unconstitutional decisions, most notably Decree 117 of 2021.

In a related context, the head of the Supreme Judicial Council in Tunisia, Youssef Bouzakher, said that the purge of the judiciary by the executive authority and on the basis of lists, is a wrong course and contrary to international standards and could have counterproductive effects.

He added that this path was tried in 2012 and proved to be a failure, as he put it.

Bouzacher's statement comes in response to demands to purge the judiciary, which were originally issued by President Kais Saied on several occasions.

rare criticism

In turn, the Secretary-General of the Union of Labor (the largest labor organization in Tunisia), Noureddine Taboubi, implicitly criticized President Kais Saied, and called for not treating the state as a "game", as he described it.

Al-Taboubi also indicated that what he described as "awareness of the people" is what saved the country from chaos after taking these measures that disrupted the institutions in the country, he said.

"The state has its secrets, dialogues have its controls, the state is not a game and the time factor is very important, and we have to be very careful," Taboubi said in a statement to state television.

He added, "On July 25, God was kind to us, and there was awareness of the people and the youth (and this spared the country chaos), but the next time you cannot guarantee the result. If the people lose confidence in all parties, we will live in a state of no state and become very dangerous."

The Secretary-General of the Labor Union, President Said, called for the gathering of political parties and civil forces to find solutions to the current crisis in the country.

This is the first time that the Labor Union has criticized the exceptional measures taken by Saeed. Over the past period, it has been keen to cautiously welcome these measures, but has urged the president on several occasions to call for a national dialogue to end the political crisis in the country.

refusal of guardianship

For his part, Tunisian President Kais Saied said today, Wednesday, that his country is open to consultation and cooperation with brotherly and friendly countries without tutelage or interference in their internal affairs, as he put it.

This came during Said's reception, in the capital, Tunis, with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, according to a statement by the Tunisian presidency.

Saied pointed to Tunisia's openness to consultation and cooperation with brotherly and friendly countries within the framework of mutual respect for national sovereignty, and stated that his country rejects all forms of guardianship or interference in its internal affairs or stalking its interests.

He expressed his adherence to the principles of democracy, respect for freedoms and the guarantee of human rights.

In turn, Aboul Gheit expressed his "confidence in the democratic process in Tunisia and in the validity of the measures and measures taken by Said," according to the same source.

European Parliament

The European Parliament is scheduled to vote tomorrow, Thursday, on a draft resolution on the situation in Tunisia.

The draft resolution, of which Al Jazeera obtained a copy, calls for the resumption of the normal work of state institutions, including a return to full democracy and parliamentary activity as soon as possible.

Tomorrow, Thursday, the European Parliament is scheduled to vote on a draft resolution on the situation in Tunisia (Al-Jazeera)

The draft resolution expresses the European Parliament's concern about foreign interference - what it described as authoritarian regimes - that undermine Tunisian democracy.

It also considers that the absence of a constitutional court in Tunisia allows for a wide interpretation and application of Article 80 of the constitution, and prevents members of Parliament from submitting an appeal to obtain a legal ruling on its suspension, and the additional measures taken by the President of the Republic on the basis of the same article.

And yesterday, Tuesday, a statement by the European Commission revealed that the European Union’s High Commissioner for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell stressed, during the call with Saied, the importance of setting a well-defined timetable for the return to the constitutional system in Tunisia, based on the separation of powers, respect for the rule of law, parliamentary democracy and the protection of fundamental freedoms.

Borrell expressed his hope that the formation of the new government would be an important first step towards preserving democratic gains.

Last Thursday, the US Congress warned against the state of democracy in Tunisia, considering it "threatened and in danger", which Saied rejected.

Since last July 25, Tunisia has been experiencing a severe political crisis, as Saied began a series of "exceptional" decisions, including freezing the competencies of Parliament, lifting the immunity of its deputies, abolishing the constitutionality monitoring body, issuing legislation by presidential decrees, heading the Public Prosecution, and dismissing the Prime Minister.

The majority of political forces rejected these decisions, and considered them a "coup against the constitution", while other forces supported them, seeing them as a "correction of the revolution's path", in light of the political, economic and health crises (the Corona pandemic).