Today's Washington Post editorial titled "Time is running out to stop Tunisia's slide toward one-man rule," noting that US President Joe Biden's trip to the Greater Middle East via Israel and Saudi Arabia dominated the news and monopolized almost all diplomatic attention.
That may have been inevitable, the newspaper said, but it considered it so unfortunate that it distracts from what it described as the ongoing destruction of democracy in Tunisia, where President Kais Saied, despite his legitimate election in 2019, uses his power to undermine once-promising political institutions. In the country, which was founded in the wake of the 2011 uprising against the dictatorship.
The newspaper believes that Saeed's plans to draft a new constitution, which he seeks to ratify in a referendum scheduled for July 25, could deepen the process of undermining the country's political institutions.
Said's plans for a new constitution, which he seeks to ratify in a referendum scheduled for July 25, could deepen the process of undermining the country's political institutions.
She pointed out that economic and social problems persist due to the president's resort to ruling by decree and the suppression of those who resist his seizure of power, including the elected parliament, which he dissolved on March 30 in retaliation for his attempt to reassert his constitutional powers.
The newspaper pointed out that Saied is counting on the negative response from Tunisia's allies in the European Union and the United States, who issued several verbal warnings, and described the EU's latest statement as particularly tepid.
She added that what was most impressive for Saeed was the Biden administration's threat last April to cut bilateral military aid next year, but that has not yet been enacted into law.
The newspaper concluded that the United States still has more leverage over Tunisia in the form of bilateral economic aid, in addition to Tunisia's potential need for a rescue plan from the International Monetary Fund, and that Western governments must use this influence, otherwise the loser will be the cause of Arab democracy.