Kais Saied defends dissolution of Parliament in talks with Blinken

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
14 Dec 2022 23:54
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Despite criticism of his recent measures, President Kais Saied defends his decision to dissolve parliament and draw up a new constitution, saying he saved the country from civil war.

Tunisia's Saied stands by his decision to dissolve Parliament.

Tunisia's President Kais Saied defended his dissolution of parliament in a meeting on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying that "the country was on the brink of civil war all over the country, so I had no other alternative but to save the Tunisian nation from undertaking any nasty action," a statement by the US State Department reads.

The Tunisian leader traveled to Washington to take part in a US-Africa summit, just days ahead of parliamentary elections that the opposition says will consolidate Saied's power.

According to the statement, Saied told Blinken that he was asked by "so many MPs in Carthage [...] to dissolve the parliament. One of them were bleeding in the front head, and about 10 – I don’t memorize the number, but many of them from the MPs, they were asking to dissolve the parliament."

On his part, Blinken said at the start of the meeting, "We’ll no doubt be talking about our support for inclusive, transparent elections, the economic program that’s so important to the future of the Tunisian people," adding that the US "very much look forward to being able to work together in that direction and to make sure that the diverse voices in Tunisia are fully represented in its future."

Met with President Saied of Tunisia to emphasize our support for Tunisia’s economic prosperity and the importance of strengthening democratic checks and balances and the protection of fundamental freedoms. pic.twitter.com/9qqwhGVuxx
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 14, 2022

Blinken reaffirmed the US' strong support for the Tunisian economy amid the current economic crisis, which was exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine.

Tunisia has been experiencing an acute political crisis since July 25, 2021, when Saied began imposing a series of "exceptional measures", including dismissing the government, dissolving the Judicial Council, freezing the work of parliament, issuing legislations by presidential decrees, adopting a new constitution through a referendum on July 25, and bringing forward the date of the parliamentary elections to December 17.