TUNIS — Around 20 global and Tunisian human rights
groups on Saturday condemned a "power grab" by Tunisia's president
and warned of a slide back towards authoritarianism.
اضافة اعلان
They "strongly denounce the decisions taken
unilaterally by President Kais Saied, reaffirm their unwavering attachment to
democratic principles and condemn the
seizure of power and the lack of any form
of safeguards."
Signatories to the statement included Amnesty International's
Tunisia section, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists,
and the Tunisian Network for Transitional Justice.
Their warning followed
Saied's announcement on Wednesday of
decrees that strengthen the powers of his office at the expense of those of the
prime minister and parliament, in the only democracy to have emerged from the
Arab spring uprisings of a decade ago.
Saied's action is "implicitly abrogating the
constitutional order in ... a first step towards authoritarianism," the rights
groups said.
The new measures came almost two months after Saied sacked
the government of Hichem Mechichi and suspended parliament, presenting himself
as the ultimate interpreter of the constitution.
Mechichi's government was supported by the Islamist-inspired
Ennahda party, the largest in Tunisia's deeply fragmented legislature.
Fractious coalitions and short-lived governments that
followed the North African country's 2011 revolution have proved unable to
resolve pressing social and economic crises.
Although Saied's July measures enjoyed significant public
support, civil society groups have been warning of a drift away from democracy.
The speaker of Tunisia's parliament Rached Ghannouchi on
Thursday called for "peaceful struggle" against a return to "absolute
one-man rule".
A day later the country's powerful UGTT trade union
confederation warned of threats to the country's democracy.
In their statement, the rights groups recognized "the
limits of the current political system" established by the 2014 constitution
but said any reform must be done while respecting "the separation of
powers and in full guarantee of fundamental freedoms and human rights."
Such change cannot be "dictated unilaterally by the
presidential power," the groups said.
Saied will now rule and pass laws by decree, without the
need for a vote in parliament, which remains suspended.
"The constitution is no longer the source of laws, and
no recourse will be possible against the presidential decrees," the
statement said.
Read more Region and World
.jpg)
.jpg)
