Taken aback by Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed's speech while preparing for the big demonstration on December 17, the anniversary of the 2011 revolution, the political class reacted quite negatively to the head of state's announcements.

By extending, on Monday, December 13, the suspension of Parliament, which he had pronounced on July 25 at the same time as he had granted himself executive power by dismissing his Prime Minister, until new legislative elections were held on 17 December 2022, he imposed his calendar and his roadmap.

"Many parties, especially centrist and leftists, have warned against concealing a political project through a roadmap and a timetable," said Lilia Blaise, correspondent for France 24 in Tunis. Some experts believe that Tunisia is no longer in the rupture phase of July 25, when Kaïs Saïed had used the Constitution to take full powers by speaking of an imminent peril that threatened the country. Today, they agree on the fact that there is no longer necessarily any danger, and that this exceptional period, with a duration of one year, until the elections of December 2022, risks going towards a drift of one-person power ".

The reaction of MP Hichem Ajbouni.

© Facebook screenshot

The deputy Hichem Ajbouni, from the ranks of the Democratic Current (Attayar), ironically summed up Kaïs Saïed's speech in a publication on his Facebook page, accompanied by the hashtag #FuiteEnAvant: "I am the State ... I am the president ... I am the government… I am the Parliament… I am justice… I am the people… I am the independent High Authority for the elections… I am the infallible prophet. The one who criticizes me or opposes me: either a greedy, be a liar, a traitor, a thief, an agent or an ignorant one. "

"The President massacred the Constitution"

Questioned by France 24, Sofiane Makhloufi, deputy and member of the executive board of the Democratic Current, which cannot sit due to the suspension of Parliament until the next elections, vigorously challenges the legitimacy of the decisions of the Tunisian president.

"We are opposed to this way in which Kaïs Saïed tries to seize all the powers in Tunisia, he thunders. All his announcements are null and void, because this president massacred the Constitution and put it down. in the freezer, so therefore he himself and all his decisions are illegitimate. "

And to add: "He was elected, like all of us, in relation to the Constitution in force, and whoever does not respect it and who overthrows it becomes illegitimate."

In his speech to the nation, delivered a few days after the ambassadors of the G7 member countries and of the European Union in Tunisia called for a "rapid" return to democratic institutions, the Tunisian president also announced the organization to leave. January 1 of a series of popular "consultations". These must relate in particular to constitutional and electoral amendments which will then be submitted to a referendum on July 25, 2022.

"There are criticisms of the feasibility of this timeline, especially around this national consultation announced for early January, and questions about the form it will take. We are talking about a digital platform, while there is a digital divide in the country Many Tunisians living in rural areas do not necessarily have access to smartphones, "recalls Lilia Blaise.

Asked about the question, Sofiane Makhloufi protests against this decision. "The poor population, of which the president claims to be the defender, does not have access to this technology, so they will not be able to participate in these consultations. Not to mention that in terms of the legitimacy and credibility of the process, it is He is the one who will define the method and the questions and draw the conclusions of these consultations, and in the end it is he who will organize the referendum. With what apparatus will this referendum be organized? What credibility will it have? there while the president in hand on the executive apparatus? "

"The priority of Tunisians is elsewhere, while the state finances are on the brink of collapse, he adds. While the country is going through a very important economic, social and financial crisis, Kaïs Saïed is not going about this. debate, preferring a question which apparently has been close to his heart for years, namely to make a Constitution tailored to his measure. "

"A logical continuation"

If the president's detractors are enraged, the fact remains that Kaïs Saïed's approach was greeted by his allies and by those who were delighted to see him put an end, on July 25, to several months of political blockage. in the Assembly, where Ennahda, the Islamist party, held the largest parliamentary group.

According to the former deputy Riadh Jaidane, lecturer in public law in Nice, these announcements are the "logical continuation" of the decisions taken by the president on July 25. "There is satisfaction in relation to the schedule that was unveiled, because we demanded a precise roadmap in relation to the reforms envisaged, he explains to France 24. And with what has been announced yesterday (Monday), we finally have a real roadmap and a date that has been set for new early parliamentary elections, able to guarantee parties have the time they need to organize themselves. "

"Until then, we will have to prepare for this deadline, and it is in this sense that the president announced a series of reforms in relation to the electoral law. It has proved that it is the cause of all the misfortunes of the Tunisia, all this government instability and political problems, "he said.

According to Anis Arbi, a writer living in Tataouine (south-eastern Tunisia), involved in social movements in the region and who claims to be left-wing, it seems that there is no other way out of the impasse in which the country is plunged. "We can not agree with these announcements, but it seems it is the only solution to get out of the crisis, because a good part of Tunisians no longer has any confidence in the political class, all confused tendencies, as it has collectively failed to move Tunisia forward and get it out of corruption. "

And to conclude: "Even if it is necessary to wait to see what will be the method used to consult the population and to organize the referendum, personally, I continue to believe that the president is an honest man. I have confidence in him even if , politically, it will be difficult for him to take care of all the files on his own, given the problems that have accumulated over the past ten years in the country. "

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