The White House has urged Tunisia’s president to return to a “democratic path” after he triggered a political crisis, suspending parliament, sacking ministers and arresting critics.
A judge, two opposition MPs and two bloggers who criticised President Saied on social media were among those detained at the weekend, raising fears that he was stamping out the civil liberties won during the Arab Spring protests a decade ago.
Saied, 63, has denied accusations of a coup and said last week that he would not “turn into a dictator” by invoking emergency powers.
Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, had an hour-long call with Saied on Saturday which “focused on the critical need for Tunisian leaders to outline a swift return to Tunisia’s democratic path”, a White House statement said.
Saied, a former law professor, suspended parliament on July 25 for 30 days. Tunisian security forces placed Bechir Akremi, a prominent judge, under house arrest for 40 days on Friday night on suspicion of corruption.
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Yassine Ayari, Maher Zid and Mohamed Affes, all MPs, were also arrested after Saied removed parliamentary immunity and ordered investigations into four opposition parties.
Rached Ghannouchi, the Speaker of the suspended parliament, was taken to the military hospital yesterday. Ghannouchi, 80, fell ill with Covid last month and spent a week in hospital.
