Tunisian president Kais Saied extended his suspension of parliament, one month after he sacked the prime minister, extending his executive authority over the small North African nation.
Saied issued “a presidential decree extending the exceptional measures… regarding the suspension of Parliament and lifting of the parliamentary immunity of its MPs until further notice”, the presidency said in the statement.
The president also extended an order freezing immunity for lawmakers and said he would address the Tunisian people in the upcoming days.
Last month, Saied invoked the constitution to dismiss the head of government and freeze parliament, followed by a series of arrests and travel bans described as a “purge.”
The president’s intervention, seen largely as plunging the country’s democratic system into uncertainty, has nonetheless garnered popular support with many Tunisians backing Saied’s moves.
In a separate move on Monday night, the president of the Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi dissolved the executive office of his party and promised to constitute a new one.
Ghannouchi, whose party has risen to power and gained support since the 2011 revolution, led the opposition against Saied’s moves but was met by increasing demands from his own party members to quit the leadership.
“Ennahda’s head decided to dismiss the party’s executive members and restructure it in a way that responds to the requirements of the phase,” the party said in a statement.
Ennahda party and its ultraconservative ally Al-Karama have been in the eye of Saied’s political storm, with several members arrested or placed under house arrest.
Almost a month into the power grab, Saied has not yet appointed a new prime minister, despite international calls urging him to do so swiftly.
He has, however, appointed an interim interior minister, replaced the economy and communications ministers and set up a crisis unit to deal with Covid-19.
The president of the party says that this decision comes in reaction to the general demand within the party to renew its structures.
The press release insists that the crisis unit created within the party, under the chairmanship of Mohamed Goumani, will continue to work to help the country end the crisis. In summary, Rached Ghannouchi is trying to force a passage, eliminating his many detractors in the executive office, while maintaining power at the level of the Shoura which remains loyal to him.
The goal being, according to observers, to muzzle the many voices that are rising against him, and who have come to announce the creation of a new party.
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