Tunisia – Tunisians welcome Saied’s decision to permanently dissolve parliament

Location: Tunis – Tunisia

Language: Arabic

Voice: Natural

Duration: 00:05:16

Source: A24

Restriction: A24 Clients

Dateline: 31-03-2022

Storyline

President Kais Saied issued an order to permanently dissolve the Parliament after a virtual session was held by the deputies; which the president and Tunisians viewed as an attempt to divide the state.

Saied said that this meeting is an attempted coup against the official and legal authority in the country. He called on the Minister of Justice to open a case with the Public Prosecution.

The decision to dissolve Parliament was accepted by the Tunisians, Tunisian General Labor Union, and several personalities and parties.

Shotlist

• (SOUNDBITE) Walid Al-Waqini – political activist:

“The dissolved parliament held an illegal session to divide the state, just like what happens in Libya. The president is the only one authorized to preserve the unity of the state and he dissolved the parliament. There is no other solution with this parliament; because if it continued to work, it would have led us to the division of the state and the creation of alternative authorities to the existing legitimate authority. The focus is on Articles 89 and 90 of the constitution that says that elections are re-run within 45 to 90 days, but these two Articles were canceled from September 2021.”

• (SOUNDBITE) Sarhan al-Nasiri – Alliance Party for Tunisia:

“What happened is a violation of national sovereignty and veiled messages from Rashid Ghannouchi and a gang that had taken over the political scene during the past ten years. They call for foreign intervention and a violation of national sovereignty, laws, security, and social peace. We have asked the President to impose the most severe punishments on those who participated in this plenary session and to dissolve the frozen parliament because there is no room for it to remain in the political scene today.”

• (SOUNDBITE) Khaled – Citizen:

“The parliament was over when the president decided on July 25 to freeze it. Everything they did was unjustified, and as I say, they wanted to create confusion in the country, but they no longer have the authority. There is no justification for the session they held. We should now look at the state of the country; its future and economy and try to improve the country.”

• (SOUNDBITE) Habib – Citizen:

“The president has started his campaign on the 25th of July, and he should have completed it by dissolving this parliament and holding the deputies accountable. Some of them are convicted in absentia, and some have immunity. What is this immunity for a person who has committed a crime against the country? The president has to pass them to jail. We do not have a parliament; we had a gang set up by Rashid Ghannouchi.”

• (SOUNDBITE) Khamees – Citizen:

“The dissolution of Parliament came at the right time. When the Parliament was active, life was miserable, parties were fighting and the people were lost, therefore Parliament was dissolved at the right time.”

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