POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND HEALTH CRISIS

IN TUNISIA

Article 80 of the Tunisian constitution

By regaining control of the executive, the presidency ensures that it is working in accordance with the law. It uses article 80 of the Tunisian constitution, which provides for this possibility in the event of "imminent danger" to "the nation or the security or independence of the country". “Kaïs Saïed indicated that he had activated article 80 of the Constitution, according to which the president can take the necessary measures in the event of imminent danger threatening the institutions and the nation”, decrypts Aude-Annabelle Canesse, researcher specializing in Tunisia within of the CNRS.

Arm wrestling with Ennahdha: "a coup"?

These measures, which should be published in the form of a decree, however, immediately angered the parliamentary Ennahdha party. The party close to the Islamists, Ennahdha, in fact, does not mince words after the presidential announcements. "What Saïed did is a coup that the activists of the Ennahdha party and the Tunisian people will be able to fight," assured on Facebook, according to comments reported by the daily La Presse de Tunisie, the president of Parliament, Rached Ghannouchi. He also criticizes Kais Saied for not having consulted him before taking such a decision, contrary to what Article 80 of the Constitution provides.

As of Monday morning, clashes erupted in front of the Tunisian Parliament between supporters of the president and those of the Islamist-inspired formation. Rached Ghannouchi began a sit-in in front of the chamber on Monday morning, along with his vice-president, and several other deputies from the Ennahdha party, said La Presse de Tunisie. They wanted to enter Parliament, but were prevented from doing so by the army, deployed on site.

A condition has not been met

Full powers may be granted to the President after consultation with the Head of Government, the President of the Assembly of People's Representatives and after having informed the Constitutional Court. A condition that was not respected, notes the academic. And for good reason: no leader has been informed. Above all, "the Constitutional Court has still not been created", she recalls. "While we cannot speak directly of a Coup d'Etat, these decisions do not send very positive signals for democracy," she slips.

A young democracy looking for itself

By activating article 80 of the Constitution, Kais Saied wants to end the instability in the country and the permanent political blockage. The disagreements between the President of the Republic and the President of the Parliament paralyzed the management of the country and the public authorities. Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi was not appointed until September 2020, making him the third head of government in less than a year.

If the 2019 presidential election sees the victory of Kaïs Saïed, an independent and rather progressive candidate, elected with more than 72% of the votes, the legislative elections do not make it possible to constitute an absolute majority. "It is this lack of a clear political majority that has fueled the institutional blockage," explains Béligh Nabli, associate researcher at the Center for International Research (Ceri) of Sciences Po.

"The issue is really to know who actually exercises power within a regime whose nature is quite complex, in particular because the Constitution is recent, the democracy young", continues Béligh Nabli.

Indeed, the current Tunisian regime has only been in place since 2011 after the autocratic ex-president Ben Ali was ousted from power during the Jasmine revolution. The current Constitution is even more recent, adopted in 2014. It provides for a mixed parliamentary system, in which the President of the Republic has only limited prerogatives, mainly in the areas of diplomacy and security. This twist therefore shakes the young Tunisian democracy. With this event, the young democracy is looking for itself, "to know if the Tunisian political regime is rather presidential or parliamentary", analyzes Béligh Nabli.

The political crisis, consequence of the health crisis

The decisions of Kaïs Saïed come after large-scale demonstrations that enamelled the country on Sunday, the feast of the Republic. On Sunday, Tunisians, exasperated by power struggles and the government's contested management of the social and health crisis, took to the streets despite the curfew in Tunis and several other cities. The premises and symbols of the Ennahdha party were targeted by the demonstrators.

The discontent is also linked to the lack of anticipation and coordination of the executive in the face of the health crisis, leaving Tunisia short of oxygen.

The country, which in 2020 had very few cases of Covid-19, now has the highest death rate in Africa and the Arab world, according to the World Health Organization. With nearly 18,000 deaths for 12 million inhabitants, the pandemic causes 150 to 200 deaths per day and suffocates an already fragile health system. So much so that international donations have multiplied in recent days. The country has known three different health ministers since the start of the health crisis.

So many difficulties that President Kaïs Saïd now intends to face, by posing as the sole guarantor of executive power.