Tunisia's political situation deteriorated further on Wednesday, as President Kais Saied fired more officials, just days after suspending parliament and assuming executive powers in what critics called a coup.
In a joint statement, key civil society organizations warned against any "illegitimate" extension of Saied's 30-day suspension of parliament and urged a deadline for political action.
Saied ordered the expulsion of numerous top officials after suspending parliament and removing Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi on Sunday and firing the defense and justice ministers on Monday.
Saied, a 63-year-old former law lecturer who was a political newbie when he won a landslide victory in the 2019 presidential election, signed decrees removing a large number of senior government employees, including the army's chief prosecutor, late Tuesday.
He also fired the CEO of national television channel Wataniya on Wednesday.
He has also removed lawmakers' parliamentary immunity and acquired judicial powers.
According to Saied, his actions are permitted under the constitution, which empowers the president to take specific extraordinary steps in the event of an "imminent threat."
In addition to the political unrest, the North African country is suffering from a debilitating economic crisis, which includes rising inflation and unemployment, as well as an increase in Covid-19 infections.
A judicial investigation
The power grab has been dubbed a "coup d'etat" by the moderate Islamist Ennahdha party, which was the largest fraction in the coalition government, while the US, EU, and other states have expressed grave alarm.
On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian encouraged Tunisia to appoint a new prime minister and government as soon as possible.
The Tunisian prosecutor's office stated on Wednesday that the judiciary has begun an investigation into charges that Ennahdha and two other political parties received illegal funds ahead of the 2019 elections, further escalating tensions.
The investigation was launched on July 14 by the judiciary's financial arm, with a focus on "foreign financing and acceptance of funds of unknown origin," according to prosecution spokesman Mohsen Dali.
Saied, an academic who has stated that he is intended to transform the political system through legislative amendments, has stated that he will acquire executive power with the help of a government whose new chief he will choose himself.
Following Saied's meeting with members of national organizations late Monday, names of potential candidates began to circulate on Wednesday.
“President Saied will take great care in appointing the next president because he wants a trustworthy and loyal person who will follow his policies,” political scholar Slaheddine Jourchi said.
The fledgling democracy was sometimes regarded as the Arab Spring's single success story, a series of uprisings that swept the region beginning in 2010.
However, a decade later, many in the 12 million-strong country say they have seen no change in living conditions and are fed up with protracted political gridlock and elite infighting.
The deposed government was also chastised for its response to the Covid epidemic. Tunisia has one of the highest official per-capita death rates in the world.
‘A formidable task'
“President Saied is up against a huge challenge: proving to Tunisians and the rest of the world that he made the right decisions,” Jourchi added.
The Ennahdha party said on Monday that “organized thugs” were being employed to “provoke bloodshed and chaos” outside the army-blockaded parliament.
Ennahdha stated on Tuesday that it was willing to hold early legislative and presidential elections in order to protect democracy, but that any delay “must not be used as a pretext to maintain an autocratic regime.”
A prominent Ennahdha leader, Noureddine B'Hiri, stated that the party had agreed to campaign peacefully against the president's proposals.
But, before any elections, B'Hiri said AFP, "parliament should resume its activities and the military should end its control."
Tunisia has had nine governments in the ten years after the popular revolt deposed tyrant Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Some have only lasted a few months, obstructing reforms required to improve the country's ailing economy and shoddy public services.
