Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Five months after he seized power, Kais Saied has given no signs he plans to return the country to its democratic path.
The crisis in these marginalized border areas is likely to perpetuate social instability.
Tunisia’s democratic crisis is also a reflection of the EU’s weak and fragmented commitment to the country. The EU should encourage a return to democracy by alleviating Tunisia’s economic struggles, spurring political reforms, and pressuring regional partners to stop meddling in Tunisian affairs.
Join Aaron David Miller as he sits down with leading experts Rachel Kleinfeld and Frances Brown to discuss the state of democracy and the path forward in advance of the summit.
The region might be better served from a recommitment by the US and Europe, which might offer palpable inducements of development aid linked to reforms. But with Western governments focused on their own domestic spending plans and Covid-19 recovery, it is more likely that continuing Chinese funds and outreach will further entrench Beijing’s influence in the region for the foreseeable future.
In an interview, Hamza Meddeb discusses Tunisian President Qaïs Saied’s further consolidation of power.
At stake in Tunisia are the hard-won political gains of the last ten years: the increases in freedom of expression and association, individual rights, and the Tunisian constitution.
As the countries around it descended into civil war or regressed into authoritarianism, Tunisia held free and fair national and local elections, adopted a liberal-democratic constitution, and witnessed a peaceful transition of power.
Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, who had served less than a year in office. Removing Prime Minister Mechichi from power was only one of several steps President Saied took to consolidate power and address what he saw as an urgent, emergency situation.
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