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Tunisia in turmoil as president purges officials and seizes judicial power
Source: The Guardian
Tunisia in turmoil as president purges officials and seizes judicial power
Days after PM’s overthrow fears grow that Kais Saied will undo democratic gains achieved by Arab spring
Martin Chulov, and Simon Speakman Cordall in Tunis
Wed 28 Jul 2021 19.38 BST
Tunisia’s president has launched a purge of senior officials, including prosecutors and judges, and taken on judicial powers, days after overthrowing the prime minister and imposing emergency law.
Kais Saied’s crackdown has dragged the country deeper into uncertainty days after its elected parliament was suspended for a month in a shock move that brought a decade of faltering democracy to a sudden halt.
The actions of Saied, a relative newcomer to politics, have been widely labelled a coup, and there are fears that the north African state could end up with the sort of autocratic regime that ruled it for decades until the Arab spring.
Tunisia, where the revolutions began in 2010, had clung to hard-won democratic gains made during years of economic and political instability. Their abrupt end, and the muted response from inside the country and around the Middle East, has stunned proponents of the uprising and the transition to democracy.
“This was the last poster child of the Arab spring,” said Suha Rached, a teacher from Tunis. “I don’t know what to feel now. It’s not even clear if it was worth it.”
-snip-
Days after PM’s overthrow fears grow that Kais Saied will undo democratic gains achieved by Arab spring
Martin Chulov, and Simon Speakman Cordall in Tunis
Wed 28 Jul 2021 19.38 BST
Tunisia’s president has launched a purge of senior officials, including prosecutors and judges, and taken on judicial powers, days after overthrowing the prime minister and imposing emergency law.
Kais Saied’s crackdown has dragged the country deeper into uncertainty days after its elected parliament was suspended for a month in a shock move that brought a decade of faltering democracy to a sudden halt.
The actions of Saied, a relative newcomer to politics, have been widely labelled a coup, and there are fears that the north African state could end up with the sort of autocratic regime that ruled it for decades until the Arab spring.
Tunisia, where the revolutions began in 2010, had clung to hard-won democratic gains made during years of economic and political instability. Their abrupt end, and the muted response from inside the country and around the Middle East, has stunned proponents of the uprising and the transition to democracy.
“This was the last poster child of the Arab spring,” said Suha Rached, a teacher from Tunis. “I don’t know what to feel now. It’s not even clear if it was worth it.”
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/28/tunisia-in-turmoil-as-president-purges-officials-and-seizes-judicial-power
