The leader of the main coalition of opponents in Tunisia called on President Kais Saied to “leave immediately”, after the fiasco of the legislative elections on Saturday, supposed to renew Parliament and marked by a massive abstention rate of more than 92%.
In a telephone interview with AFP on Sunday, the president of the National Salvation Front (FSN), Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, considered that this election “shows that very, very few Tunisians support Kais Saied’s approach”.
“It is a great popular disavowal for the process”, started by the freezing of Parliament and the dismissal of its Prime Minister on July 25, 2021, before monopolizing all powers, added Mr. Chebbi.
“92% turned their back on its illegal process which flouts the Constitution” and Saturday’s vote was, according to Mr Chebbi, preceded by “great international disavowal” during Mr Saied’s recent visit to the United States , where he received “an end of non-receipt” to his political process.
“The political process is internally and externally disavowed,” said Mr. Chebbi, president of the FSN, which includes the Islamist-inspired movement Ennahdha, Mr. Saied’s pet peeve and former majority party in Parliament for the 10 years since followed the Tunisian Revolution of 2011.
He called on the other political parties to “agree on the appointment of a senior magistrate” capable of “supervising a new presidential election”.
After his coup and the freezing and then the dissolution of Parliament last March, denounced as “a coup” by the opposition, President Saied had a Constitution adopted this summer which drastically reduces the prerogatives of Parliament.
He also reformed the voting system used on Saturday for the legislative elections, by prohibiting any political affiliation for the candidates, most of whom were unknown, which for the experts contributed to lowering the participation.