Page 21 - Issue 34

ELITE Vol.1, issue 34, August 2021
Vol.1, issue 34, August 2021

In order to relatively limit the powers of the President of the case in many Arab countries, and some of them supported it on
Republic, who’s directly elected by the people (to prevent a the grounds that the circumstances are exceptionally difficult on
repetition of the dictatorship of Ben Ali), the constitution the economic and health fronts, which necessitates and justifies
Title (please respect font)
increased the powers of the head of government, and the suspension of normal legitimacy in some emergency
established a hybrid political system based on a kind of situations (as De Gaulle did with his abandonment of the
balance between the heads of state and the government, and legitimacy of the Vichy regime during World War II).

between the executive and legislative powers. Accordingly, Whether we are supporters or opponents, what is certain is that
the constitution has essentially given the responsibilities of President Saied, who still enjoys the greatest popularity in
defense, national security, and foreign relations to the Tunisia, is trying to put an end to the struggling transition in
President of the Republic (with consultations with the Prime Tunisia and to review its political system, seeking to establish a
Minister), while the rest of the policies and fields have strong democratic presidential system that will allow the
become the prerogatives of the Prime Minister, who can also economy to be put back on track and to root out the corruption of
ask the Parliament to withdraw confidence from the the political elites.
President. The second reason is conjunctural; with this power- This is what made Tunisians, who are hostile to political parties
sharing established by the constitution, and the rise of Kais and Ennahda in particular, to welcome his decisions by taking to
Saeed, the independent legal personality, and his the streets and squares. This can be compared to what Charles De
overwhelming victory in the 2019 elections, he, Prime Gaulle did with the establishment of the French Fifth Republic in
Minister Al-Meishishi, and Parliament Speaker Ghannouchi 1958 and the election of the President by direct suffrage in 1962.
are in disputes and frequent divisions over their respective Although it is based on a mixed political system (which is the
authorities, which led to an incoherent approach to dealing case in Tunisia today), de Gaulle sought to rebalance the powers
with the Covid-19 crisis and exacerbated economic and in favor of the executive authority, namely that the President of
political malaise in Tunisia. It was even noted that the Republic shall prevail, at the expense of Parliament that must
Ghannouchi has been trying, since the beginning of 2020, to be “rationalized” (cannot withdraw confidence from the
seize the powers of the President, whether in the field of President). In this regard, President Saied vowed that he will not
become a "dictator", and that all measures taken are temporary
foreign relations (especially his closeness to Erdogan and the and within the context of the constitution.
Sarraj government in Libya) or in the internal fields. In this
context, it’s noteworthy that unfortunately it was possible for In addition to changing the political system, Saeed’s recent
this dispute to be adjudicated by the country's Constitutional decisions mean the exclusion of the Brotherhood in their last
Court – an institution that never existed since 2014 because of places of active presence in North Africa, after it was subjected to
the divided political landscape, unable to come to an heavy strikes in the past years, whether in Egypt after July 2013,
agreement on its membership. in Libya after the parliamentary elections (Tobruk) 2014 or
recently in Sudan with the 2019 revolution that brought down Al-
The division over the legitimacy of Saied's decisions was not Bashir's rule. Logistically, Tunisia was the last bastion of the
at the level of political forces, and among the Tunisian Brotherhood in North Africa and the last outlet for the
people. Rather, analysts were also divided over the implementation of the “empowerment 2028” project (with the
constitutionality of Said's decisions. There are those who group’s founding centenary), which was developed by the
consider Saeed’s move is manipulating and circumventing the Brotherhood in cooperation with Turkish President Erdogan since
constitution, and that he seeks to establish a dictatorial and 2006, and aims to control and penetrate all the joints of
populist rule based on luring people’s emotions and rejecting governance in North African countries and the declaration of
the principles of democracy and political liberalism, as it’s the Tripoli as the capital of this enlarged Brotherhood state, under the
umbrella of a "neo-Ottoman rule".

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