TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s political crisis reached a new milestone on Wednesday as members of parliament, suspended last year by President Kas Saed, gathered virtually to vote against measures decided last year by the Head of State, who reacted by dissolving Parliament.
Kas Saed suspended the work of Parliament last July and dismissed the Prime Minister to grant himself almost all the powers, an initiative described as a “coup d’etat” by several parties and which plunged the country into its worst crisis. politics since the 2011 revolution.
It was the first attempt by elected officials to meet since the suspension of parliament, a move considered by the government as a “conspiracy against state security”.
Of the 217 members of parliament, 124 took part in the virtual session and 116 of them spoke out against the “exceptional measures” used by Kas Saed since last July.
The Head of State had warned that any holding of a parliamentary session would be illegal. He announced in a video published online the dissolution of Parliament.
“We must protect the state from any division… We will not allow this aggression against the state to continue,” said Kas Saed, who faces growing opposition but whose grip on power should not be allowed. not weaken following this session.
(Report Tarek Amara, with Yasmin Hussein, written by Angus McDowall; French version Jean Terzian)
by Tarek Amara and Angus McDowall