Tunisia’s President Kais Saied on Sunday announced that he had frozen the Tunisian parliament, suspended the immunity of all deputies, and dismissed Prime Minister Hicham Mechichi after violent protests rocked several Tunisian cities.
Saied added that he would assume the presidency of the executive authority with the assistance of a new prime minister, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, the move, which comes on the 64th anniversary of Tunisia’s independence, escalates Saied’s longstanding feud with Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and poses a challenge to the 2014 constitution that “split powers between the president, prime minister, and parliament.
Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi accused Saied of launching “a coup against the revolution and constitution”.
Earlier on Sunday, hundreds of protesters had rallied in the Tunisian capital and other cities, demanding that the government step down after a spike in Covid-19 cases that has aggravated economic troubles.
In Tunis, police used pepper spray against protesters who threw stones and shouted slogans demanding that Mechichi quit and parliament be dissolved, state media reported.
Many people were deceived by hypocrisy, treachery and robbery of the rights of the people,” Saied said in a statement on state media, per Reuters. The statement followed an emergency meeting at his palace after thousands of Tunisians marched in several cities.
“I warn any who think of resorting to weapons… and whoever shoots a bullet, the armed forces will respond with bullets,” Saied added.
The speaker of Tunisia’s parliament and the leader of the Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi told Reuters that the president had launched a “coup against the revolution and constitution.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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