Large protests in Tunis after President Saied tightens grip on judiciary

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of central Tunis, chanting anti-government slogans, following a presidential decree published on the official gazette.

In the controversial decree, President Kais Saied gave himself additional powers over the country’s judiciary by establishing a new judicial watchdog that allows him to appoint, promote, and transfer judges.

The decree also prohibits judges from going on strike or holding any organized actions that could disturb the normal functioning of courts in the country.

Opposing the move, the protesters participated in a march organised by the country’s biggest political party Ennahda and a civil society group.

They waved Tunisian flags and chanted “Shut down the coup… take your hands off the judiciary”.

Nadia Salem, one of the protesters, said “what has happened is the completion of the coup… Tunisia has become a nascent dictatorship after being a nascent democracy”.

The protests on Sunday followed a two-day strike announced by the Association of Tunisian Judges that was widely observed across the North African country.

The decree came a week after Saied said he wanted to dissolve the High Judicial Council that resulted in a nationwide strike by judges who argued that the president did not have the authority to do that.

“Tunisian President Kais Saied is aware of the constitution, but he has acted contrary to Chapter 114 of the law and has elected an interim Supreme Judicial Council,” Youssef Bouzakher, Head of Tunisia’s Supreme Judicial Council, was quoted as saying.

“He violated the law by allowing the executive branch to interfere in the judicial process,” Bouzakher noted, saying the judges “will not stay silent.”

He contended that there was “no legal framework” to dissolve the body, which was set up in 2016 to guarantee the judiciary’s independence.