Tunisian President Kais Saied dissolved parliament, sacked the prime minister, and declared himself chief executive on July 25—actions that reek of a coup in the Arab world’s only democracy. Tunisians carried out a successful revolution in 2011, ousting longtime dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and ushering in a democratic transition—one that was still ongoing when Saied was elected in 2019. Although Saied has sought to couch his actions in a constitutional article that allows the president to take exceptional measures when the state is in imminent danger, his power grab is still extralegal and comes against Tunisia’s short- and long-term interests.
Tunisia currently faces three crises. Its economy, which has struggled since the revolution, is close to collapse, leading some observers to compare it to Lebanon. The coronavirus pandemic decimated the tourism industry and sent unemployment skyrocketing; this month, amid a brutal fourth wave, Tunisia has seen its highest number of new COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. And a political crisis preceded Saied’s recent actions: The 2019 elections ushered in the most fractured government in Tunisia’s history, with the largest party holding just one quarter of the seats.
