Photo: YouTube
Tunisian President Kais Saied is being roundly condemned by the international community.
Often touted as the lone success story of the Arab spring revolutions a decade ago, Tunisia is facing a critical challenge to its fledgling democracy after its president suspended parliament and dismissed his prime minister in what critics described as a coup.
Kais Saied, an independent without a party behind him, announced he was invoking an emergency article of Tunisia’s constitution late on Sunday night after a day of violent protests against the country’s biggest party, the moderate Islamist Ennahda movement.
The capital, Tunis, was flooded with jubilant crowds waving flags, letting off fireworks and honking car horns after Saied’s declaration in scenes reminiscent of the 2011 protests which toppled the country’s longtime autocratic ruler, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
On Monday, Saied also removed the defence minister and acting justice minister from their posts, while Al Jazeera reported that its bureau in Tunis had been raided by security forces. Its journalists were expelled from the premises and phones, computers and other equipment confiscated.
What comes next is unclear.
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