Tunisia – Free Constitutional Party questions legitimacy of the president under new constitution

Location: Tunis – Tunisia

Language: Arabic

Duration: 00:04:38

Sound: natural

Source: A24 in Tunisia

Restrictions: A24 subscribers

Date: 22/08/ 2022

Storyline:

The head of the Tunisian Free Constitutional Party Abeer Moussa announced she had sent a letter, documented by a notary, to the president. She claims his authority became illegitimate after he issued the new constitution, since he took the constitutional oath on an abolished constitution, and there is no legal way for him to swear an oath on the news constitution in the absence of Chamber of Deputies and constitutional court. Moussa in the letter demanded President Kais Saied to declare vacancy of the position of president, and declare himself as acting president, as well as call for early presidential and legislative elections.

Shotlist:

– Soundbite (Abeer Moussa – Head of the Free Constitutional Party):

“Chapter 92 of the constitution says that the elected president takes the constitutional oath, and reads the text of the oath that differs from the oath that the president took in 2019 before Parliament. Kais Saied is not an elected in accordance with the constitution that he amended and issued by official decree to be implemented in all of Tunisia. He is not an elected president, and there is currently no Chamber of Deputies or constitutional court, so he cannot take the oath on the new constitution. The only solution we reached is an official notification report by a notary, demanding the president to declare vacancy of the position of president, declare himself as the acting president, and call for early presidential elections, in which a president is to be elected according to the new constitution that will be implemented in the next stages.”

– Soundbite (Abeer Moussa – Head of the Free Constitutional Party):

“We are holding Kais Saied accountable, because continuing to rule Tunisia outside the framework of the new constitution would harm the country’s economic interests. We will not acknowledge any agreements made by his current government or any government he appoints that does not conform to the text of the news constitution. The president bears the responsibility of the ongoing hunger and poverty afflicting Tunisians in light of the stifling social crisis.”

– Soundbite (Abeer Moussa – Head of the Free Constitutional Party):

“The president says he will single-handedly issue an electoral law. He says he will amend it behind closed doors to keep knowledge of its rules from all, which contradicts international election standards. He has no right to issue an electoral law, that he shaped to serve only him, given that he is a candidate same as the rest in any upcoming presidential elections. It is unreasonable for me to be a candidate representing my party in an election against someone who has advantage over me, considering he was the one who drafted the conditions for candidacy. He has the authority to include or exclude any administrative documents and abuse his power to manipulate certain conditions that could harm the candidates, which is violation of international standards and our rights. We sent the official notification to the president in order to prevent these mistakes. If he fails to act accordingly within the coming hours, we will start our protest movements and hold him legally and politically responsibility for his mistakes.”