![]() ![]() Ideologically, his adamant conservatism and his populist appeal to religious rhetoric situate him in the Islamist camp (if the term is understood to mean an ideology that seeks to transfer religious precepts into legal and social realms). ![]() These positions are worth remembering now that Saied is portrayed, by admirers and detractors alike, as the bête noire of Islamists, and of the Ennahdha party in particular. The president even went as far as calling LGBTQI Tunisians “ deviants” acting as a Western fifth column to “ corrupt the Islamic nation.” Saied further spoke in favor of resuming the death penalty and against decriminalizing public display of affections between unmarried couples, as well as homosexuality. ![]() The fact that Saied wasn’t exactly a champion of liberal democracy should have already been clear during his 2019 electoral campaign, as he adamantly opposed some of the key reforms proposed by the Individual Freedoms and Equality Committee ( COLIBE)-a body created by late President Béji Caïd Essebsi to make existing legislation on individual liberties compliant with the 2014 Constitution.Īmong those reforms, equality in inheritance rights between men and women was actually making concrete steps up the legislative ladder thanks to Essebsi’s support-before being hastily dismissed by Saied on grounds of not being in line with sharia law. Clearly, none of these conditions were met since last July, and the fact that the constitutional court never came into existence certainly doesn’t mean that its role as a guarantor becomes redundant. It’s worth noting that Article 80 requires the involvement of the head of government and of the speaker of parliament, as well as parliament in “continuous session,” and a review by the constitutional court after thirty days. Due to his appeal to France to stop supporting the illegitimate government, Marzouk has been sentenced to four years in prison in absentia. Among them were prominent constitutionalist Yadh Ben Achour, a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and president of the post-2011 Higher Political Reform Commission, and Moncef Marzouki, who served as interim president during the post-revolutionary phase. He suspended parliament and lifted immunity from MPs, appointed a new government, took control of the judiciary, issued unlawful travel bans, and replaced officials in national and regional governments, security agencies, and other bodies.Īlthough matters have become much clearer now, from the beginning, many denounced the move as being more of a coup d’état than a constitutional procedure. On July 25, 2021, Saied engineered what has been dubbed a “ constitutional coup.” Claiming to act under Article 80 of the constitution, which allows the president to take exceptional measures in case of “imminent danger threatening the nation’s institutions or the security or independence of the country,” Saied took sweeping decisions, which effectively dismantled the rule of law in Tunisia. On July 25, Tunisians return to the polls for a historical vote: a referendum on whether to repeal the democratically-drafted constitution of 2014 and replace it with a new charter immaculately conceived by President Kais Saied. JTunisia is the sole survivor of the Arab Spring. ![]()
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