Tunisian President Kais Saied said that the exceptional measures he took last July will be shortened, while the Supreme Judicial Council affirmed its refusal to prejudice the judiciary according to presidential decrees taken as part of the exceptional measures.

A statement by the Tunisian presidency - after a meeting of the Council of Ministers at the Carthage Palace - indicated that the exceptional measures will be shortened (without setting a time limit) and the text related to the dialogue that will be organized in an innovative way with Tunisians at home and abroad will be considered.

He explained that the exceptional measures - according to which the work of Parliament was suspended and part of the constitution was suspended - were taken to save the state and the people, and that democracy must be real, not on the surface of freedom and on the inside of discord and hypocrisy.

He added that Tunisia has entered a new phase in its history, different from the previous ones, which requires devising new concepts and tools for managing public affairs outside traditional frameworks and concepts, according to the statement.

Said expressed his confidence in Tunisia's ability to overcome the crisis it is going through, and find the desired financial balances thanks to hard work and the involvement of citizens inside and outside Tunisia.

The latest calls, which have long demanded the president to set a time limit for exceptional measures, came yesterday from the Secretary-General of the Tunisian Labor Union Noureddine Taboubi, who expressed his concern about the difficulties in which the country is floundering and what he called the absence of vision, as he put it.

Supreme Court

For its part, the Supreme Judicial Council in Tunisia announced, Thursday, its refusal to prejudice the judicial authority in accordance with presidential decrees, which are approved in light of the measures of the exceptional situation in the country.

This came in a statement by the Supreme Judicial Council (an independent constitutional body), in response to the announcement of the Tunisian Council of Ministers, to prepare draft legislation related to the Supreme Judicial Council.

The statement stated the rejection of prejudice to the constitutional structure of the judiciary by virtue of decrees, and the guarantees guaranteed to judges functionally and structurally, foremost of which is the existence of the Supreme Judicial Council as a constitutional institution guarantor of the proper functioning and independence of the judiciary.

He stressed that any reform of the Supreme Judicial Council should be within the framework of the principles and controls stipulated in the constitution, and not within the framework of exceptional measures related to confronting an imminent danger.

The Supreme Council warned of the danger of pressure on the judiciary and accountability outside legal frameworks and guarantees, stressing its involvement in the reform process and the fight against corruption and terrorism in Tunisia, according to the same statement.

Al-Nahda Movement Warning

In this context, the Tunisian Ennahda movement warned of what it considered the dangers of the Presidency of the Republic's insistence on laying hands on the judicial authority with the aim of subjugating and employing it by targeting the Supreme Judicial Council.

A statement by the movement considered that the Supreme Judicial Council is a constitutional gain, and that respecting its role and position is a condition for the proper functioning of the judiciary, its independence, and the guarantee of rights and freedoms.

The movement also denounced attempts to undermine and confuse the local authority represented in the elected municipal councils by suspending Chapter Seven of the constitution and abolishing the Ministry of Local Affairs.

The movement's statement warned against continuing the policies of abuse and disdain for elected representatives after they were unconstitutionally frozen and their assistants were cut off.

Since last July 25, Tunisia has been experiencing a severe political crisis, when President Kais Saied took exceptional decisions, including: freezing the powers of Parliament, lifting the immunity of its deputies, issuing legislation by presidential decrees, chairing the Public Prosecution, and dismissing the Prime Minister, provided that he assumes the executive authority with assistance. A government appointed its head.

The majority of political forces in Tunisia reject these decisions, and consider them a coup against the constitution, while other forces support them and see them as a correction to the course of the 2011 revolution, which overthrew the regime of late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.