Tunisian President, Kais Saied has tightened his grip of the nation’s bureaucracy, sacking 57 judges and seizing control of the previously independent Electoral Commission.
Mr Saied (pictured) accused the judges of corruption and protecting “terrorists”, in a televised address he said he’d given “opportunity after opportunity and warning after warning to the judiciary to purify itself”.
Among those sacked was former head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Youssef Bouzaker, which Mr Saied dissolved in February.
The Council had acted as the main guarantor of judicial independence since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution and the move fuelled accusations that the President was interfering in the judicial process.
Mr Saied said he would replace most of the members of the Electoral Commission — a move critics said would entrench his one-man rule and cast doubt on electoral integrity.
Commission Head, Nabil Baffoun told the Reuters News Agency that Mr Saied’s decree was a blow to the democratic gains in the country’s 2011 revolution and meant the body was no longer independent.
Last July, Mr Saied dismissed the Government and seized executive power, before setting aside the 2014 Constitution and dismissing the country’s elected Parliament, saying the action was needed to save the country from crisis.
While the public seemed to support Mr Saied’s initial power grab there is growing discontent over his rule and the powerful UGTT union has called a strike for later this month (June).
Tunis, 4 June 2022
