Tunisia’s Interior Ministry said on Friday that President Kais Saied was the subject of “serious threats” against his person, in a country in the throes of a political crisis since the head of state arrogated Full powers.
“According to reliable information and investigations still in progress (…) the President of the Republic and the presidential institution are the target of serious threats”, indicated to the press Fadhila Khelifi, spokesperson for the ministry. According to her, the authorities have uncovered “a plan involving internal and external parties targeting the safety of the president”, with the aim of “undermining state security and creating chaos”. She did not provide further details on the plan in question or the parties who would be behind it.
The opposition doesn’t believe it
Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, leader of a coalition of opposition parties, was skeptical about this announcement from the Interior Ministry. “It is to justify new arrests and to take revenge on his adversaries,” he told AFP. “The president is politically isolated and seeks to arouse some sympathy among the population towards him. »
Tunisia has been going through a deep political crisis since Kais Saied’s coup on July 25, 2021. The president then suspended parliament and dismissed the government, shaking the fledgling democracy in the country, the cradle of the Arab Spring.
Kais Saied is under intense criticism from the opposition for having excluded him from a national dialogue on a new constitution which he plans to submit to a referendum on July 25. The opposition, including the Islamist-inspired party Ennahdha, the president’s pet peeve, as well as human rights organizations accuse him of seeking to have a text tailor-made for him adopted.