The new Tunisian parliament opened its first session today, Monday, while the main opposition coalition said it would not recognize its legitimacy, describing it as "the fruit of the coup constitution."
Local and international journalists were not allowed to attend the inaugural session of parliament, which is the first time a parliament session has taken place since the 2011 revolution. Only state television, radio and the state news agency are allowed to cover the event, organizers said.
It is expected that the new parliament will choose its speaker, and elect members of the internal system committee, while the oldest member will preside over the inaugural plenary session of the council.
On February 25, the Independent High Authority for Elections announced the final list of the 154 new members of parliament.
The election of members of the new parliament represents the last stations within the road map announced by President Saeed, which included electronic consultation, a popular referendum on revising the constitution, and the organization of early legislative elections.
The opposition refuses
The Ennahda bloc in the dissolved Tunisian parliament 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 called for early presidential and legislative elections.
The opposition National Salvation Front also announced that it would not recognize the parliament that emerged 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.
The front condemned the campaigns of continuous raids, fabrication of charges and abuse of political prisoners.
It held President Qais Saeed and officials in the Ministries of Justice and Interior responsible for the safety of the detainees, especially those on hunger strike.
The new parliament, which operates according to a constitution that Saeed himself drafted last year and approved in a referendum with a turnout of about 30%, will have limited power compared to the previous parliament he dissolved, while the turnout in the vote to select its members did not exceed 11%.
Most parties boycotted the elections, and candidates were included on individual lists without indicating party affiliation.
Most of the new members of Parliament are independent politicians.
Diaspora Parliamentarians Coordination
In the same context, a number of deputies of the dissolved Tunisian parliament abroad announced the establishment of what they called the Coordination of Tunisian Parliamentarians in Diaspora.
The deputies added - in a statement - that the Coordination Committee will defend the legitimate parliament and the Tunisian people in the face of what they described as a coup.
The deputies stressed that the only legitimate parliament is the one elected in 2019 and the only legitimate constitution is the 2014 constitution.
On the other hand, the Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labor Union, Noureddine Taboubi, confirmed before the union's administrative body meeting, in the city of Kerkennah, in southern Tunisia, that the trade union organization will not abandon its constants and the values for which it was founded, even if they erected gallows for it, as he put it.
Also, the Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labor Union, Noureddine Taboubi, stressed, prior to the meeting of the union's administrative body in the city of Kerkennah, in southern Tunisia, that the difference in perceptions of the Tunisian crisis remains internal.
Regarding the developments of the rescue initiative, Al-Taboubi said that the federation is in the process of formulating a final vision for the initiative with its social partners.
Tunisia has been living in the midst of an acute political crisis between Tunisian President Kais Saied and his opponents since the announcement of exceptional measures on July 25, 2021, according to which the previous parliament was dissolved.