This past Wednesday, Tunisias president, Kais Saied, announced that he will not follow the countrys Constitution and rule by decree. All of this is because President Saied is planning on changing the political system of the country. This all comes after July 25th. On this day, President Saied fired the prime minister, suspended parliament, and assumed executive authority. His opposition took this as a coup and instantly opposed this idea by the president. The president that his idea for theis reaction is because the country is under an "immediate threat." Recently, he openly said that he plans on keeping parliament frozen for another thirty days. He cites that his actions do follow the rules because of Tunisias post-revolution constitution. This created backlash in the public with some people supporting him because they feel they're life has gotten worse since their former authoritarian government fell. Others feel that they wanted to keep parliamentary democracy in place.
Most people in the government are rejecting Saied's plan of rewriting the constitution. They believe that this will not give their citizens more rights and they won't be as free, but instead, will be living in an authoritarian state in which the government controls their lives. Most people aren't in favor of Saied's decision because of the former leader of the country, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. He was the former dictator of Tunisia who ruled the. country for a lengthy amount of time. After his fall as dictator, Tunisia was paraded around the world for their peaceful transition to become a parliamentary democracy. These people in the government see in Saied the same as what they saw in Ben Ali.
Saieds actions basically give the president unlimited power. This means that slowly, but surely, President Saied is becoming a dictator and the country is leading to authoritarian state. This will now allow him to admit any bill into effect that he wants, appoint the cabinet by himself, and set Tunisia's policy direction.
His ways don't only affect the citizens of this country, but also the members of the previous parliament. After President Saied froze parliament, the members we're left without their job. This meant that the members of parliament will not be able to receive their salary and they are not protected with immunity when faced with prosecution.
President Saied plans on creating a committee that will help him rewrite the Constitution and make the appropriate amendments where he believes they need to be. Saied has already come out and said that he only plans on keeping the preamble of the existing Constitution and any part that does not contradict his powers, while changing mostly the rest.
Watching how this whole situation turns out is going to be quite interesting. It makes one wonder, will Saied keep Tunisia as a democratic parliament, or will he turn the country into an authoritarian state. One will have to wait and see.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/22/tunisias-president-to-ignore-parts-of-the-constitution-and-rule-by-decree
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210920-tunisian-president-saied-promises-to-name-a-pm-but-maintains-emergency-measures
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/tunisia-saied-power-grab-west-silent-what-follows-significant
No comments:
Post a Comment