Three Tunisian parties announced - today, Tuesday - the prosecution of President Kais Saied, his prime minister, Najla Bouden, and the ministers of finance, interior and culture, on charges of exceeding authority, misuse of influence and misappropriation of public funds.
The general secretaries of the Democratic and Republican Current parties, the Ettakatol for Labor and Freedoms, and a representative of independent national figures, submitted a petition to the first president of the Court of Accounts against the Tunisian president, the prime minister, and the ministers of finance, interior and culture.
The parties that signed the petition said - in a communiqué - that they took this action against the backdrop of illegally closing the headquarters of Parliament, the National Anti-Corruption Authority and the Bardo Museum, and preventing employees from starting their work while continuing to pay their wages.
dismantling the state
The Democratic Current Party in Tunisia had described President Kais Saied's decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council as an additional step in the path of dismantling the state and striking its institutions.
In a statement, the party expressed its rejection of the executive authority's interference in the management of the justice facility and its dominance over the functions and composition of the Supreme Judicial Council.
The party called on the various components of the judicial structures to adhere to their constitutional institution and to continue the struggle, in order to restore the democratic path in Tunisia and reform it from within the constitutional and legal frameworks.
The Labor Party also condemned the decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council, considering it a step in the direction of subjugating the judiciary in order to establish the president's "populist authoritarian" project.
Washington is on the line of crisis
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Tunisia said - today, Tuesday - that two US officials met with representatives of civil society in Tunisia, to discuss political developments in the wake of the president's decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council.
The embassy added - in a statement - that Karen Sasahara and Christopher Lomon, deputy assistant foreign ministers, met with representatives of Tunisian civil society, to discuss recent political and judicial developments.
The US embassy in Tunisia had quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying Washington was concerned about the Tunisian president's decision to dissolve the Judicial Council.
Last week, Saeed dissolved the council, one of the country's few remaining institutions able to operate independently of it, in the latest in a series of moves that his opponents have called a coup.
The Tunisian president strengthened his grip on the judiciary - the day before yesterday - with a decree that allows him to dismiss judges or prevent their promotion and bans judges' strike, allowing him to consolidate his power after taking over the executive and legislative authority last summer.
Tunisia has been witnessing a severe political crisis since last July 25, when Said began imposing exceptional measures, including freezing the powers of Parliament, issuing legislation by presidential decrees, dismissing the government, and appointing new ones.