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The President of Tunisia issued a decree dismissing a long list of senior government officials, including the chief prosecutor of the army.
After President Keith Said fired more officials, Tunisia was further plunged into political uncertainty, just a few days after he fired the prime minister, frozen the parliament and gained executive power.
After suspending parliament and firing Prime Minister Hichem Mecic on Sunday, and firing the ministers of defense and justice a day later, Saeed ordered the firing of several senior officials late on Tuesday.
The 63-year-old president is a former legal lecturer and political newcomer. He won the 2019 presidential election by a landslide. He issued a decree to fire a long list of senior government officials, including the chief prosecutor of the military.
On Wednesday, he fired the chief executive of Wataniya, the national television channel.
In addition, he also abolished the legislator’s parliamentary immunity and assumed judicial power. He also ordered investigations into three political parties suspected of receiving foreign funds before the 2019 election.
In a joint statement, major civil society groups warned the Said Parliament to suspend any “illegal” extensions for 30 days and demanded a timetable for political action.
Tunisian journalist Sam Kimball told Al Jazeera that Said claimed to have plundered nearly US$5 billion from the country through various means.
“He said he had a list of hundreds of people accused of plundering the country’s wealth-these people were mainly politicians and members of Congress, and he lifted their immunity on Sunday night,” Kimball said.
“he [Saied] Said that this country is not a beggar country and deserves a better future. “
Kimball said the president’s actions appeared to be “to appease those who might be skeptical of the extreme measures he has taken in the past few days.”
The President stated that his actions were justified under the constitution, which allows the head of state to take unspecified special measures in the event of an “imminent threat.”
In addition to political turmoil, this North African country is also plagued by severe economic crises, including soaring inflation and high unemployment, as well as a surge in COVID-19 infections.
Judicial investigation
The National Unity Party, the largest faction of the coalition government, called the seizure of power a “coup,” while major countries such as the United States and the European Union expressed strong concerns.
The Tunisian Prosecutor’s Office, which has increased tensions, announced on Wednesday that the judiciary has begun investigating allegations that Ennahdha and two other political parties received illegal funds before the 2019 elections.
Prosecutor’s spokesperson Mohsen Dali said that the financial department of the judiciary began an investigation on July 14, focusing on “foreign financing and accepting funds from unknown sources”.
Said is a scholar who has stated that he is determined to radically change the political system by amending the law, and that he will assume administrative power with the help of the government in which he will appoint his new chief.
“President Said will be very cautious in choosing the future head of government, because he wants a trustworthy and loyal person, and he will adopt the same policies as him,” said political scientist Slakheddin Zurch.
Young democracies are often cited as the only success story of the Arab Spring—the uprising that began in Tunisia at the end of 2010 that engulfed the region.
Ten years later, many people in this country of 12 million people say that their living standards have hardly improved, and are angry at the political deadlock of prolonged infighting among the elites.
The dismissed government has also been criticized for its handling of the COVID pandemic, which has reported nearly 579,000 cases and more than 19,000 deaths in the country.
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