Tunisian President Kais Saied announced the dissolution of parliament on Wednesday, eight months after suspending it to assume full powers in July 2021.
Mr Saied made the announcement during a meeting of the ‘National Security Council’ which he chaired, hours after MPs defied parliament’s suspension by holding a virtual session, during which they voted to cancel the exceptional measures decided since by the president.
“I am announcing today at this historic moment the dissolution of the Assembly of People’s Representatives to preserve the state and its institutions and to preserve the Tunisian people,” Saied said in a video released by the presidency.
After months of political blockage, Mr. Saied, elected at the end of 2019, assumed full powers on July 25 by dismissing the Prime Minister and suspending the Parliament dominated by the Islamist-inspired party Ennahdha, his pet peeve.
On September 22, the Head of State formalized his full powers through “exceptional measures” which extend the suspension of Parliament. They also allow him to legislate by decree, to preside over the Council of Ministers and to amend laws.
One hundred and twenty Tunisian deputies defied the suspension of Parliament on Wednesday by organizing a virtual session during which they voted to cancel the exceptional measures decided by Mr. Saied since July 25.
At the call of the Office of the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP), a body which brings together the Presidency of Parliament and representatives of the parties sitting there, 120 deputies (out of a total of 217) participated in this online plenary , chaired by Tarek Fertiti, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, an independent.
The president of the ARP, Rached Ghannouchi, also leader of the Ennahdha party, did not take part in this plenary session.
One hundred and sixteen MPs voted in favor of a bill aimed at reversing exceptional measures taken by Mr Saied, which they say are blocking the democratic process and establishing one-man rule in the country where the Spring was born Arab.
The deputies, including elected members of Ennahdha and independents, also called for the organization of early legislative and presidential elections to get out of the political and socio-economic crisis.