TUNIS — Tunisian President Kais Saied has
condemned “illegal” meetings of a parliament he suspended last July, saying
those responsible for the planned virtual sessions were trying to sow chaos.
اضافة اعلان
The North African country is in the throes
of a deep political and economic crisis which took a dramatic turn last July 25
when Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament, later moving to rule
by decree.
His opponents have labeled the moves a
“coup” against the fraught democracy that emerged after the 2011 revolution
that overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring
revolutions.
The assembly’s speaker Rached Ghannouchi,
head of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, has called for a plenary session
on Wednesday to discuss Saied’s “exceptional measures” imposed since July.
In a video published by his office late
Monday, Saied said that “the so-called ‘virtual meeting’ is illegal because the
assembly is frozen”.
Talking at a meeting of his National
Security Council, he accused his rivals of “coup attempts” and said the
security apparatus would deal with those attempting to create “domestic
strife”.
Ghannouchi, whose party has dominated
Tunisian politics since the revolution and is seen as Saied’s main rival, made
his call during a virtual meeting bringing together heads of parliamentary
blocs on Monday.
The MPs also decided to hold another plenary
on Saturday to discuss Tunisia’s deteriorating economic situation and public
finances.
They did not specify how the plenary would
be held, but the parliament building has been closed by security forces since
Saied’s power grab last year.
Saied dismissed the moves as “wretched and
worthless”, mockingly saying that if they wanted to meet they could do so “in a
spaceship”.
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