Today, Monday, the inaugural session of the newly elected Tunisian People's Assembly kicked off, at a time when the Journalists' Syndicate denounced the media's ban from attending, while the opposition refused to recognize the assembly, describing it as "the fruit of the coup constitution."
The inaugural session was chaired by the eldest of the deputies, as it is expected to elect a new Speaker of Parliament and to elect members of the Internal Order Committee.
On February 25, the Independent High Authority for Elections announced the final list of 154 new members of parliament.
The election of members of the new parliament represents the last stations within the road map announced by President Kais Saied, which included electronic consultation, a popular referendum on a new constitution, and the organization of early legislative elections.
Tunisia has been experiencing an acute political crisis between the president and his opponents since the announcement of exceptional measures on July 25, 2021, according to which the previous parliament was dissolved, the Judicial Council was also dissolved, and legislation was issued by presidential decrees.
Tunisian journalists from various local and foreign media outlets protested in front of the Parliament headquarters in the capital against the backdrop of being prevented from covering the opening session of Parliament, with the exception of state television and the Tunisian News Agency.
Amira Mohamed, Vice-President of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, said that preventing journalists from covering the opening session of Parliament is a disgrace in his new career, as she put it, blaming President Said for responsibility.
The vice president of the union threatened to take escalatory decisions if this ban continued.
The Tunisian Journalists Syndicate said that preventing journalists from entering parliament is a dangerous precedent and a confiscation of a right guaranteed by the constitution.
The Syndicate added that the ban is a systematic policy adopted by the authority to target and restrict freedom of the press and undermine the citizen's right to information, according to its expression. The Syndicate called on all members of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People to assume their responsibilities and stand up to the prevention process.
The Tunisian Association of Newspaper Directors also considered preventing journalists from covering the parliament session as an unjustified exclusionary practice against freedom of expression.
Reject the opposition
On the other hand, the opposition National Salvation Front announced - in a statement - that it would not recognize the parliament that emanated from the constitution of an illegal coup and elections that were boycotted by the overwhelming majority, according to the statement, stressing its adherence to the 2014 constitution approved by millions of Tunisians through their deputies in the National Constituent Assembly.
The statement added that the dissolution of the municipal councils is a new episode in the series of coup measures that established the head of state's control of all powers, according to the statement.
The Ennahda bloc in the dissolved Tunisian parliament also expressed its lack of recognition of the new parliament and its adherence to the 2014 constitution as the sole source of legitimacy.
In a statement, the bloc renewed its rejection of what it described as unilateral decisions taken by the de facto authority.
All organizations called for more peaceful struggle for the return of legitimacy, and also called for early presidential and legislative elections.
The presidency of the dissolved parliament also rejected - in a statement - what it called the "coup path", and considered "the pseudo-parliament devoid of any legitimacy or legitimacy, and it is not possible to take any decisions issued by it or dictates passed through it by the coup authority," according to the expression of the statement.