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The opposition in Tunisia calls President Kaid Said a coup leader

2021-09-25T10:14:39.117Z


Several formations call for mobilization against the measures approved by the leader to legislate by decree


The main opposition parties in Tunisia have labeled the country's president, Kais Said, a coup leader, and several call for mobilization. Four formations issued a joint statement on Thursday in which they indicated that Said has lost his legitimacy. The message of these formations (Attayar, Al Jouhmouri, Akef and Ettakatol) goes along the same lines as what Rached Ganuchi, leader of the moderate Islamist party Ennahda, had already declared the day before, the majority in Parliament, where it has 53 of the 217 deputies. Ganuchi accused Said of having in fact abolished the Constitution by which the country has been governed since 2014, using a rule promulgated this Wednesday. Through this law Said authorizes himself to legislate by decree laws on some thirty issues,ranging from freedom of the press to security policy.

The four parties that denounce a coup d'état do not have great weight in Tunisian society, except Attayar, who supported Said until July 25, when he deposed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended the activities of Parliament for a month. However, criticism of Said increases day by day. Qalb Tunis, which was the second party in the 2019 legislative elections, has also branded Said a coup. And the leftist Tunisian Workers Party (PTT) declared this Thursday in favor of the mobilization against Said's measures, which it described as "the culmination of the coup operation" of July 25.

However, the main political force in Tunisia remains the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), the most powerful union in the Arab world, with more than one million members in a country of 11.6 million inhabitants.

And this formation has not yet been officially pronounced.

Although one of its leaders, Anour Ben Kadour, declared on Thursday morning that Tunisia is moving towards an “absolute, individual government”.

But it remains to be seen whether the union decides to call a mass protest or prefer to opt for inaction.

A man without charisma

The jurist Kais Said, 63, is the seventh president of Tunisia, the second since the establishment of democracy. This man who participated in the 2019 presidential elections without any political experience, without charisma, or money, unleashed euphoria in the country. He promised a change towards a true democracy with a message that made a deep impression among millions of unemployed youth. He had a reputation for being austere and denounced corruption. He won with 72.7% of the votes compared to 27.29% for his rival, the tycoon Nabil Karui.

The discredit of a political class that in 10 years did not even know how to agree to form a Constitutional Court, an institution that now would have guarded against any abuse of power played in Said's favor.

The corruption of the politicians, the transfuguismo and the incompetence to stop unemployment were allied with the pandemic and paved the way for Said to take over the Legislative and Executive powers on July 25.

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There are no highly reliable surveys in Tunisia.

But the street, for the moment, has accepted Said's measures.

On Saturday, September 18, a demonstration of hundreds of people denouncing "the coup" by Said was registered in Tunis for the first time.

But the great silent majority remained silent.

Selim Kharrat, a member of the Tunisian NGO Al Bawsala, told this newspaper that Said's popularity is going to undergo a great change shortly due to the great economic challenges in the country. “Tunisians can continue to support Said's actions, even after the decree law he approved this Wednesday; because anyway, the situation that existed before July 25 [when he assumed full powers] was not much better. But when people realize that the economic situation does not improve, things will change. "

Kharrat, whose NGO closely follows the country's political movements, believes that the demonstrations will multiply from now on because Said "rejects dialogue and has left no other option to his political opponents."

"Since Wednesday they are not even allowed to appeal their decree laws to justice," concludes Kharrat.

Professor Monika Marks, from New York University Abu Dhabi, indicates that after July 25, when Said assumed full power, there was great hope both inside and outside the country, placed in the four Tunisian organizations that won the award in 2015 Peace Nobel.

They were key to promoting the democratic transition in the country: the UGTT union, the country's employers' association (UTICA), the Tunisian Human Rights League and the Order of Lawyers.

These four organizations, according to Marks, now do not have a common enemy, as in 2013, when they fought against the Islamist Ennahda formation and acted together because they believed that

the enemy of my enemy is my friend

.

"The UGTT", explains Marks, "which is the only actor with a real capacity for mobilization, has tried to negotiate bilaterally with Said, in the hope that they could convince him to approve economic measures on his own political agenda."

The UTICA, according to the teacher, is very discredited in the street due to corruption problems.

And the other two organizations have no real mobilization capacity.

"The UGTT is the only one with the capacity, but we do not know if it has the will to oppose Said," concludes Marks.

For his part, the activist Ali Mhenni believes that the country has just entered a "Saidian" stage where "no one knows the details of what may happen, except for Said himself and some of his close friends."

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-09-25

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