TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisian President Kais Saied extended the suspension of parliament for another 30 days on Wednesday, a month after he seized executive authority and suspended the legislature in a move his critics decried as a coup.
He also extended the suspension of the immunity of all members of parliament for another month, the presidency said in a statement, after lifting it earlier this week.
Saied’s opponents say his July 25 moves were unconstitutional and have demanded that he rescind them. The veteran law professor and political outsider has said he is acting to save Tunisia from political paralysis and social turmoil.
The president announced the measures on live television in the aftermath of a week-long standoff with Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, when protesters took to the streets to call for the dismissal of Mechichi’s government and parliament.
The premier had been at loggerheads with Saied over the cabinet’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has worsened Tunisia’s economic and political difficulties.
Saied’s suspension of parliament drew international condemnation, including from its main Western allies the United States and France, who urged him to respect the democratic process.
While concerns about Saied’s actions have been raised in Western capitals, Tunisia’s powerful UGTT trade union has thrown its weight behind him.
On Sunday, thousands of Saied’s supporters rallied in the capital to back his moves, though large numbers also demonstrated there in July to demand his departure.
In a speech to his supporters on Sunday, Saied said that no one was above the law and that he would continue with his plans to fight corruption and reform the country’s political system.
The crisis has taken place amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, with hospitals overwhelmed and facing shortages of medical supplies and beds.
Tunisia has recorded 608,773 cases and 18,659 pandemic-related deaths since the outbreak of the virus. Only 5% of its population has been fully vaccinated.
Tunisia’s economic output has contracted by 8.8% last year, and experts predict the recovery will be slow with growth of 3.1% expected this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The country is seeking a new loan of about $4 billion from the IMF, which is expected to unlock much-needed additional financing from other lenders.
Saied has pledged to tackle graft and reform the public sector in order to secure the loan agreement.
But the political turmoil has raised alarm among Tunisians and international lenders alike, as a previous IMF loan deal with Lebanon collapsed after a protracted political crisis.
Experts say that while considerable public frustrations with the political system exist, there are fears that Saied may be setting a dangerous precedent for the future.
Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, is seen as a success story in a region plagued by upheaval and autocracy, and any backsliding would send shockwaves internationally.
A veteran law professor with no prior political experience, Saied won Tunisia’s 2019 presidential election in a landslide after promising to clean up the country’s notoriously corrupt political system..
