“This is what many people feared, that he would take more and more power,” said Middle East correspondent Daisy Mohr.
President still popular
After Saied’s seizure of power, there was silence for a long time. He seized power on July 25, after massive protests against the economic crisis and failing corona policy. Tunisia has been hit hard by the corona pandemic.
The president said the constitution gives him the right to intervene in the event of a state of emergency and that he wants to restore social calm. Saied wants to amend the constitution and introduce a presidential system in which the president has great power and there is no longer any room for a prime minister. He denies that it was a coup.
The population is divided over the actions of the president. “There are Tunisians who didn’t think this was a good idea from the start and called it a coup,” Mohr said. But this certainly doesn’t apply to everyone. “The president is also still popular, because many people hope for a better future. Corona has cut it badly and the economy is bad. There is high unemployment and many people want to leave.”
Arabic spring
The current constitution was introduced in 2014 following democratic reforms in the country. This transition took place after President Ben Ali fled three years earlier following large-scale protests that sparked the so-called Arab Spring. Authoritarian leaders in Egypt and Libya were also overthrown in a wave of protests in the region.
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