A new coup for the authoritarian President Kaïs Saïed. The head of the dissolved Tunisian Parliament, Rached Ghannouchi, was questioned this Friday by an investigating judge as part of an investigation for “conspiracy against state security”. Ghannouchi, 81, also leader of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, responded to a summons from the counter-terrorism judicial center in Tunis, the leadership of the dissolved parliament said in a statement.
The court accuses him “of having conspired against the security of the State, which is a dangerous precedent”, indicates Imed Khemiri, deputy and spokesperson for the Ennahdha party, also summoned for the same reasons. After about an hour of interrogation, Ghannouchi left the premises of the judicial pole. On Wednesday, President Saïed announced the dissolution of Parliament, eight months after suspending it to assume full powers in July.
authoritarian power in the country
This decision was taken a few hours after the holding of a virtual meeting of 120 deputies, at the call of a management body of Parliament, defying the suspension of the activities of the assembly. During this meeting, in which Ghannouchi did not participate, 116 deputies voted to cancel the exceptional measures taken by President Saïed, which they believe are blocking the democratic process and establishing authoritarian power in the country.
Kaïs Saïed described this meeting as failed coup attempt. He accused the participants of “conspiring against state security” and asked the Minister of Justice, Leila Jaffel, to take legal action against them. On Thursday, a judicial inquiry was opened against the deputies who participated in the online session. More than 30 deputies received a summons from the anti-terrorist brigade, according to Ghannouchi who, in an interview with AFP, rejected the dissolution of parliament. “This decision is null and void and is unconstitutional. It is part of the continuity of the decisions taken since July 25 which we have rejected and considered as a coup d’etat.