Tunisia Said issued a decree to strengthen the power of the president

Nearly two months after Said fired the government and suspended Parliament, a series of decrees set out the rules.

The President of Tunisia announced that when preparing to change the political system, he could rule by decree without ignoring part of the constitution. This aroused immediate opposition from competitors.

Since July 25th, Kais Saied has almost all power. At that time, he fired the prime minister, suspended the parliament and took over the executive power on the grounds of a national emergency. His enemies called it coup.

The regulations announced on Wednesday appear to be aimed at breaking the balance of power and benefiting the presidency.

They are stipulated in a series of decrees published in the official gazette.

Said is facing increasing pressure from major Tunisian politicians and Western donors to appoint a prime minister and explain how he intends to survive the crisis.

The president stated that Said will set up a committee to modify the political system. It said that other parts of the constitution will continue to be effective.

It stated that the activities of the parliament will remain frozen, and the members’ right to immunity from prosecution will still be cancelled.

The moderate Islamic Baath Party leader, the largest in the severely divided parliament and a member of successive ruling coalitions, immediately rejected Said’s statement.

Rached Ghannouchi told Reuters that the statement meant the abolition of the constitution, and Ennahdha, which had declared Said’s intervention on July 25 as a coup, would not accept this.

This month, an adviser to Said told Reuters that he plans to suspend the constitution and propose a new version through a referendum, which has triggered strong opposition from powerful labor unions and political parties.

Said denied any desire for dictatorship, insisted that his actions were in line with the Constitution, and pledged to uphold the rights of Tunisians.

After years of economic stagnation and political paralysis, his widely popular intervention was intensified by the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases and a day of violent protests.