Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
After three years in office, the Tunisian president has yet to present a cohesive foreign policy agenda. Instead, Saied’s erosion of the country's democratic integrity has isolated Tunisia from international leaders, donors, and investors.
President Qaïs Saied’s visit to Washington this week is bound to have left him disappointed.
Qaïs Saied has consolidated his hold on Tunisia, but economic woes mean his control remains unstable.
It severely weakens political parties and opens the door for the president to prevent anyone who has criticized him from seeking office.
Tunisia's planned free trade zone in Ben Guerdane has stalled while similar projects in Libya have advanced. If Tunisian authorities move quickly to revitalize the plan, they can boost the economy and give hope to the marginalized border population.
President Saied’s seizure of power has been a major setback for Ennahda. He capitalized on widespread anger at Ennahda by blaming it for much of the failure of Tunisia’s governance since the 2010-2011 Revolution.
The major issue in Tunisia remains the ailing economy, and it may yet undermine President Qaïs Saied’s autocratic ambitions.
It really takes Tunisia away from the 2014 constitution. It concentrates all the power in the hands of the presidency, removes checks and balances, and there's no way to remove the president which is really troubling.
Tunisia had done very well in building its political institutions and building the backbone of a democracy over the past decade but they failed to address the economic challenges the country was facing.
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