He ended the mystery. Tunisian President Kais Saied, who had not been seen in public since March 22, reappeared in a video of his services early Monday evening and denied any power vacuum. A few hours earlier, the leader of the National Salvation Front (FSN, the main opposition coalition) had called on the government to reveal the reasons for the president’s “absence”, claiming to have been informed that he had had “problems of health “.
Regarding speculation that he had serious health problems, the 65-year-old head of state spoke on Monday evening of “a degree of madness never known in Tunisia”. “The president was absent for two or three days, he caught a cold and it became a problem, a power vacuum, a vacuum? These people deserve nothing but contempt,” he said, receiving the head of government Najla Bouden.
The opposition wonders
Earlier, the head of the DSF, Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, had spoken to the press “asking the government to address the Tunisian people and say if there are health reasons which forced the president to absent”. He had urged the authorities to specify “the nature of these health reasons”, stressing that in the event of a temporary vacancy of power it was up to the head of government to ensure the interim.
Under the terms of a new Constitution promulgated in the summer of 2022 by Kais Saied, it is the President of the Constitutional Court who must replace the Head of State until a new presidential election is held. However, the Constitutional Court has not yet been set up.
Social media speculation
“This affair concerns all Tunisians and, in the event of a permanent vacancy, serious and open consultations must be launched so that the Tunisian people and the civil and political forces agree on a mechanism for transferring power”, added Ahmed Nejib Chebbi.
Since the evening of March 22, the president had not carried out any activity, meeting or travel in public, according to the presidency’s Facebook page, his sole official communication channel, which sparked speculation on social media about his condition. health. In the video of the presidency, Kais Saied denounced without naming them people who “try to create crises”. The power vacuum “is in their heads, these people have lost their bearings, they are obsessed with power,” he said.