Tunisia-President Kais Saied met President of the European Council Charles Michel

The President of the Republic, Kais Saied received on Monday, April 05, 2021, the President of the European Council Charles Michel at Carthage presidential palace.

During this meeting, the head of the state hailed the European Union’s support for the democratic path in Tunisia, expressing Tunisia’s ambition to extend its strategic cooperation with the Union, especially in the areas of the economy, higher education, youth and new technologies.

He further called for a more inclusive approach to the migration issue that stretches beyond the security solution to discuss the core causes of this phenomenon, such as poverty and unemployment.

For his part, Mr Michel stated that his visit is part of the attestation of the existing friendship between Tunisia and the European Union, the opening of a dialogue on questions of common interest and repeated support from the Union and its Member States for the democratic process in Tunisia.

This meeting was an occasion during which the two parties reviewed the necessity to coordinate and strengthen joint international efforts to deal with the economic consequences resulting from the “Covid-19” crisis.

In this context, the President of the European Council evoked his participation, as well as President Kais Saied, in the international call for “the creation of a treaty on the collective response to health pandemics”.

Tunisian president rejects Constitutional Court law amendments

The creation of a Constitutional Court has turned into a new tug of war between the president and Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, exacerbating tensions that had resulted from a long series of political battles over the country’s control.

Tunisian President Kais Saied refused on Sunday to sign the Constitutional Court Law amendments introduced by the parliament, fearing they would limit his powers and be used to overthrow him, according to political to political sources in the country.

The creation of a Constitutional Court has turned into a new tug of war between the president and Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, exacerbating tensions that had resulted from a long series of political battles over the country’s control.

Since the first months of Saied’s presidency, the leader of the Islamist Ennahda Movement, the ruling party, Ghannouchi has reportedly schemed to remove Saied or at least limit his powers, with the aim of strengthening his party’s grip on the state’s legislative and executive institutions.

On Sunday, the Tunisian president sent a letter to Ghannouchi, rejecting the amendments and calling for respecting all provisions of the constitution. Political figures, however, suggested that the president’s rejection was driven by political reasons.

“It is clear that the rejection does not stem from a constitutional reading. Rather, there is a political context, considering that the Constitutional Court Law amendments came amid mounting tensions between the president and parliament speaker,” said activist and political analyst Tarek Kahlaoui.

In a statement to The Arab Weekly, Kahlaoui explained, “The establishment of the Constitutional Court now has become tantamount to dismissing the president politically amid hostile moves targeting the Presidency. It is a risk and a gamble, because the current political context does not guarantee for any party a full control over the Constitutional Court.”

Kahlaoui did not rule out the president may submit a draft amendment of the law in line with his own vision, but it would be difficult to obtain the approval of parliament, which is dominated by the Ennahda Movement.

On March 25, parliament introduced amendments to the court’s law, after failing on eight occasions to complete the election of its members, with only one member out of four elected due to political disputes.

The parliament approved the ratified revisions of the draft bill for electing members of the Constitutional Court and reduced the number of votes from 145 to only 131.

The amendment was proposed by Ghannouchi to reduce the number of votes constitutionally necessary to pass the members of the court to 109 votes representing the absolute majority.

Observers believe Ennahda can obtain the necessary number of votes to pass certain candidates of the Constitutional Court, warning against an attempt by Ghannouchi to create a biased court that the Islamists would later use it to target their opponents, notably the president.

Ennahda has a majority in parliament (52 seats) and is allied with Qalb Tounes (38 seats) and the Dignity Coalition (21 deputies).

“The president’s rejection was expected, especially after his meeting with constitutional law experts,” said Hatem Meliki, an independent MP.

In a statement to The Arab Weekly, Meliki considered that “the president can propose a constitutional amendment.”

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