A demonstration against the decisions of President Kais Saied, who issued yesterday a presidential decree to form the Supreme Judicial Council, granted himself the powers of dismissal and appointment of the council's judges and prevented them from striking.

Despite the widespread rejection locally and internationally, Saeed implemented the decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council, and while the Judges Association called for mobilization to confront these decisions, hundreds of protesters took to the street.

Following this decision, Saeed issued a presidential decree creating a temporary council to replace the current Supreme Judicial Council.

The Official Gazette stated that the presidential decree stipulates that the Interim Judicial Council will submit proposals to reform the judiciary, and that the president has the right to object to the promotion or appointment of judges, and to dismiss any judge who violates his duties.

The new decree prohibits judges from “strikes and any organized collective action that would disrupt or disrupt the normal functioning of the courts.”

During his meeting with Prime Minister Naglaa Boden and Minister of Justice Laila Jaffal, Saeed confirmed that the dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council and its replacement with a temporary one came to put an end to cases of impunity.

Said considered that fair accountability is one of the legitimate demands of the Tunisian people, and that the separation of jobs is to achieve a balance between them, stressing the need to purify the country of all the causes of corruption attached to it, as he put it.

Fill and Format

Expressing their rejection of Said's decisions, hundreds of protesters began a demonstration in the capital in response to calls to take to the streets in protest against these decisions, including the dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council.

The "Citizens Against the Coup" campaign and the Coordination of the Democratic Initiative had earlier urged the organization of a protest sit-in today, Sunday, in the capital, Tunis.

The Ennahda movement has called on its supporters to participate strongly in the protest demonstrations scheduled for Sunday.

The "Citizens Against the Coup" campaign said it would continue its struggle to bring down what it described as the "revolutionary path" of President Said, and in defense of the independence of the judiciary.

In its response to these decisions, the Tunisian Judges Association called on all judges to mobilize in coordination with the Crisis Cell, which announced its formation to confront President Said's decisions.

It also called for engaging in confronting what it described as targeting the judiciary, and the struggle for its independence and not being subject to executive authority, and urged the Supreme Judicial Council to continue carrying out its tasks in its current composition.

Obstacles and invitations

As for the head of the political body of the Tunisian "Amal" party, Ahmed Najib Chebbi, he said that what the president has done entitles him to interfere in the appointment, promotion, culpability, transfer and dismissal of judges, considering that another fortress of freedom and one of its fortresses falls.

In a post on his Facebook page, Chebbi said that Said's decision is "another obstacle that is moving on the path back to absolute rule, this time in poor populist garb."

Chebbi called on what he called people of conscience in Tunisia to join hands to open the way to save the country.


criticism and rejection

It is noteworthy that Saeed’s decision to dissolve the council comes after his stinging criticism for months of the judges, as he frequently repeated that he would not allow there to be a state for the judiciary, but there is a state judiciary, and he often criticized what he called the judiciary’s delay in issuing rulings in cases of corruption and terrorism, saying that There is corruption and he insists on reforming the judiciary.

The Supreme Judicial Council had rejected Said's decision, and confirmed that there was no legal mechanism to dissolve the council, while the judges launched a two-day strike, and the Judges' Association - which is known to be the most representative of judges - described the strike as successful.

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.