Turkish “Justice and Development” regrets for the Tunisian Parliament

On Tuesday, the Turkish “Justice and Development” party expressed its regret and deep concern over the dissolution of the Tunisian Parliament, and stressed the need not to compromise the people’s democratic gains.

Its spokesman, Omer Celik, told a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Ankara that the “Justice and Development” sees in principle that keeping parliaments open around the world is the biggest gain for countries.

He pointed out that the government in Tunisia had previously been abolished, and recently the House of Representatives was dissolved on March 30th.

He stressed that Tunisia is an important country with a constitutional experience that was referred to as a model for other countries to emulate.

He stressed that Tunisia has made important gains in terms of building its democracy, and it should not be neglected.

He considered that the recent developments pose a threat to the gains of the Tunisian people, and such steps (dissolving parliament) that contradict the constitution should be avoided.

And last Wednesday, the Tunisian parliament approved, in a virtual session, a law canceling the exceptional measures initiated by the country’s president, Kais Saied, on July 25.

These include freezing the powers of Parliament, issuing legislation by presidential decree, and dissolving the Supreme Judicial Council.

Hours later, Saeed announced, in a televised speech, the dissolution of parliament “to preserve the state and its institutions,” considering that the parliament meeting and what came out of it were a “failed coup attempt.”

Several political and social forces reject Said’s exceptional measures and consider them a “coup against the constitution.”

Other forces support it, seeing it as a “correction of the course of the 2011 revolution” that toppled President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.