Tunisian President Kais Saied pledged to implement his decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council, which the council considered unconstitutional, at a time when judges are on their second day of strike, in protest against President Said's decisions.

Saeed said - in a government meeting - that the Supreme Judicial Council will be dissolved according to a presidential decree and will be compensated with another, pointing to the need to "purify the country, which can only be done by purifying the judiciary," as he put it.

Saeed added that a draft presidential decree has been prepared for penal reconciliation with businessmen involved in corruption in exchange for development projects across the country.

The president indicated that the country has entered a new phase with a new thought, stressing that he is the most keen people to respect the law.

On the other hand, the Supreme Judicial Council said that the current council is the only legitimate constitutional institution of the judiciary, and that appointing a temporary council violates the constitution and laws.

President Saeed had announced, during his meeting with Prime Minister Najla Boden - earlier this week - the dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council and its replacement with a temporary body, according to a decree that will be issued soon, which Tunisian and international organizations considered a complete grouping of all authorities and a complete destruction of the principle of separation between them.

A protest sit by Tunisian judges against the decisions of President Said (Anatolia)

strike

The Tunisian Judges Association organized a protest sit-in in front of the Palace of Justice, to denounce Said's decision. This sit-down coincides with the second day of a strike announced by the judges.

The protesters - during the stand - raised slogans adhering to the independence of the judiciary, and others considered the decision to dissolve the council to restore the image of the judiciary under the executive authority.

This coincided with a strike carried out by judges for the second day, at a time when the Tunisian Minister of Justice, Leila Jaffal, confirmed President Said's adherence to the council and his keenness to review the law regulating it, as she put it;

This is what Parliament Speaker Youssef Bouzacher considered evasive and a dangerous indication of the termination of the country's constitution.

In this context, 45 Tunisian and international civil organizations expressed - today, Thursday - their initial rejection of any interference from the executive authority in the work of the judicial authority in Tunisia.

This came in a statement signed by 45 local and international organizations and associations, including the Tunisian Journalists Syndicate, Lawyers Without Borders, the International Organization Against Torture, the Tunisian Association for the Defense of Individual Freedoms, the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Human Rights, and the International Federation for Human Rights.


In their statement, the organizations expressed their initial rejection of any interference from the executive authority in the work of the judiciary.

And she called for structural reform of the judicial system, and it cannot be by assembling and concentrating powers in the hands of one person in an exceptional circumstance in which the pillars of the rule of law and its defenses are absent from an elected legislature and a constitutional court.

For its part, the "Ennahda" movement's bloc in the Tunisian parliament expressed - today, Thursday - its rejection of the country's president, Kais Saied, announcing the dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council, and its support for the judges' protests against the decision.

The bloc affirmed - in a statement - its refusal to dissolve the "Supreme Judicial Council, and the dangerous attempt to control this vital institution of the country and undermine its independence and constitutional structure."

The Supreme Judicial Council is an independent constitutional body whose tasks include ensuring the independence of the judiciary, holding judges accountable, and granting them professional promotions.

Tunisia has been witnessing a severe political crisis, since July 25, 2021, when Said began imposing exceptional measures;

These include freezing the powers of Parliament, issuing legislation by presidential decree, dismissing the government, and appointing new ones.

Saeed - who began in 2019 a 5-year presidential term - said that his measures are measures within the framework of the constitution to protect the state from imminent danger, and stressed that rights and freedoms should not be violated.