Is Kais Saied Planning A Coup In Tunisia?

-

President Kais Saied of Tunisia is out to declare literally a coup as he decided to take judicial matters in his hands. Announcing over on a Sunday morning that he has taken the power of dismissing or appointing judges in his own hands, the city has been rocking with protests against his administration.

The city of Tunis, in the capital of Tunisia, was thronging with people as they protested against Saied’s decision to dismiss judges and block their promotion, in addition to the power to propose judicial reform. This move comes a week after Saied already made a move to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council.

This was an independent body that was set up in 2016 to guarantee the independence of the judiciary. Saied accused the Supreme Judicial Council of corruption and of acting with vested interests. It has been seen that Saied has been gradually moving towards removing any kind of democratic setup in Tunisia.

Saied has accused the judges of taking bribes. The International Commission of Jurists said the accusations were “unfounded.” According to Youssef Bouzakher, head of the dissolved


Supreme Judicial Council, the president’s decree was, ‘unconstitutional’ and essentially ended an independent judiciary.

Citizens can smell a coup in the making. Shouting slogans against Saied’s action, they have taken to the streets. Tunisia broke into a large protest as oil prices started to rise.

The Tunisian court had recently announced that 19 politicians, including Islamist parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi and four former prime ministers, will be prosecuted for 'electoral crimes'. Even Saied himself has been named in the report that found many politicians in violation.

Saied’s crackdown on the judiciary comes just six months after he suspended the Tunisian parliament and dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi in July 2021, taking rule over the country himself by decree in what has also been described as a coup. Initially, parliament was supposed to have been suspended for just 30 days, but the president has continued to extend the suspension. In December 2021, he said that the suspension of parliament would continue until elections planned for December 2022.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Is Truss Government Looking At Relaxing Immigration Rules?

-
Image
UK is moving towards relaxing labor shortage norms to make up for the windfall in its crucial food industry There are plans in the UK to ease off immigration rules as the country faces issues with labour shortage and need to boost economic growth. There are plans to expand the government’s shortage occupation list in order to fill in crucial vacancies. The best way that the new PM sees is by inviting overseas workers. A range of sectors are facing labor shortage and Ms Truss has been getting requests from the various to ease off immigration restrictions to ease off the labor shortage pressures. Businesses it is told have been frustrated over the visa system for skilled workers of being unresponsive to not fill the windfall. A severe shortage in farming for example needs to be addressed. Such shortages, it seems is looking like it will badly affect food and the farming sector. The first one to be helped would be the seasonal workers’ programme. Similarly, those in dire need will nee...
Read more

How University Of Glasgow Is Reviving The Art of Knitting

-
Image
There are ways and then there are more ways to keep our traditions alive. A university in the UK has found a novice way of keeping the tradition of knitting alive, by launching a book on knitting patterns based on the architecture of the university. The University of Glasgow has collated a book of such patterns that were invited from designers from all over Scotland and are based on the ‘iconic’ cloisters on the Gilmorehill campus and the ‘modernism’ of the library. The university has gone ahead and also employed knitter who resides with the university and will help in creating the patterns.  Staff and students have been alike, invited to take part in the competition to produce original knitting patterns that are inspired by the university. They have also been encouraged to use Cochno wool. University actually launched its own wool in 2018, called the Cochno that was well received by knitters around the world. The book named as the Knitting The University of Glasgow , is a jo...
Read more

North Korean Construction Workers Run For Their Lives From Russia

-
Image
While North Koreans make for a large population of migrant workers, the pressure to lose their lives working in the war-ravaged Ukraine has left them scared In a surprising revelation, North Korean construction workers are discovering that they are in fact been employed to be sent to Ukraine from Russia. Fearing for their lives, these migrant workers are now running for their lives as none would want to the ongoing war-ravaged country. The ongoing war has led to massive loss of lives and infrastructure, which Russia is on its own volition deciding to rebuild, employing migrant workers from North Korea . The same construction migrants are now running into hiding fearing for their lives. 'After getting the news that the workers would soon be moved to a new construction site in Ukraine, and needed to settle everything by the end of September, many have escaped. It's not only the construction workers, but also management officials escaping,' an unnamed source told the pub...
Read more