TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s Supreme Judicial Council, which is supposed to guarantee the proper functioning and independence of the judiciary, on Sunday rejected President Kas Saed’s decision to dissolve it and said he would continue in office.
Kas Saed said the Council was a thing of the past and would issue a temporary decree on it.
Questioned by telephone by Reuters following this announcement, the president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, Youssef Bouzakher, denounced an illegal decision aimed at placing the judiciary under the control of the head of state.
A demonstration is planned for Sunday in Tunis at the call of political parties and organizations such as the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), on the ninth anniversary of the assassination of secular activist Chokri Belad.
Kas Saed’s opponents have accused him of autocratic drive since he assumed all powers in July by suspending the work of Parliament and deciding on a reform of the Constitution.
Supporters of the Head of State have for their part planned to demonstrate against the Superior Council of the Judiciary this Sunday.
“I tell the Tunisians that they can demonstrate freely. It is their right. Just as we have the right to dissolve the Superior Council of the Judiciary,” the president said.
(Report Tarek Amara; French version Camille Raynaud, Bertrand Boucey and Elizabeth Pineau)