Tunisia -

A battle of powers is escalating between Tunisian President Kais Saied and the House of People's Representatives (Parliament) after its speaker, Rached Ghannouchi, refused the decision to dissolve him, announcing the holding of a close session, amid the president's assurances that virtual sessions have no legal value and there is no turning back.

The President of the Republic said - on the sidelines of his visit today to the tomb of the late President Habib Bourguiba in the governorate of Monastir, on the anniversary of his death - that the national dialogue was launched with national organizations and will continue, and that the results of the electronic consultation will be a starting point for him.

He stressed, on the other hand, that "there is no going back and no legal value whatsoever for any virtual meetings held by representatives."

Parliament held a hypothetical plenary session last Thursday, in which it voted to cancel all the exceptional measures and measures approved by the president since the date of last July 25, after which Saeed announced the decision to dissolve him, and ordered that the representatives and their president be prosecuted on charges of conspiring against state security.


permanent session

Maher Madhoub, the assistant speaker of the dissolved parliament, considered - in his speech to Al Jazeera Net - that the president's going to dissolve the parliament is a new step towards deepening the political crisis in light of a stormy economic and social crisis.

He stressed his adherence, with his fellow deputies, to constitutional legitimacy, adding, "We consider that Parliament has been in permanent session since last July 26, and we will hold an upcoming session, and we will hand over the secretariat to the people only after free and fair legislative elections."

accusations and threats

Madhyoub said that 112 deputies who participated in the virtual plenary session of Parliament and voted to cancel presidential procedures and decrees are threatened with their lives, after the judiciary has charged them with charges that carry the death penalty.

In the same context, the speaker of the dissolved parliament confirmed, in media statements, that the parliament’s virtual sessions will continue and that the Parliament’s Presidency office will meet soon to program a new virtual session.

In parallel, the Ennahda movement and the "Citizens Against the Coup" movement called on their supporters to take to the streets and protest next Friday, denouncing the "coup against the constitution and the dissolution of Parliament."

A few days ago, 7 deputies, along with Ghannouchi, appeared before the Terrorist Crime Squad on charges of "conspiring against state security", while the hearing of other deputies was postponed to a later date.

The Committee for the Defense of People's Representatives described the charges against them as a legal scandal by "trial an executive authority of another authority elected by the people", expressing its hope that the judiciary would preserve the charges and close the file.


provocative operation

For his part, Dean of Lawyers Ibrahim Bouderbala described - in a statement to Al Jazeera Net - the dissolved parliament's deputies and its speaker held virtual sessions of the provocative process against the President of the Republic, and that it would not change the current political scene.

"Parliament knows that there is no legal value for any project to be voted on if the president has not signed it and it has not been published in the Tunisian Official Gazette," he added.

Bouderbala said that Saeed has actually launched a national dialogue that includes national organizations and independent personalities who are known for their clean hands, impartiality, and non-involvement in corruption, and that all parties have to do but prepare for the upcoming electoral dates.

Regarding the appearance of parliamentarians before the judiciary after the virtual plenary session was held, the Dean of Lawyers considered that the Public Prosecution is empowered to adapt this, and that the defense must play its role.

At the conclusion of his speech, Bouderbala called on those whom he described as sane people in this country to give priority to the country's supreme interest.