14 Feb 2022; MEMO: Former Tunisian President, Moncef Marzouki, said Sunday, 13 February 2022, "no dialogue with the coup" calling for dismissal of President Kais Saied because he became an "illegitimate president" and called for the Opposition to prepare an alternative.
This came through a video speech by Marzouki from the French capital, Paris, during the protest in Tunis, which was carried out by "Citizens Against the Coup – Democratic Initiative" (popular), to support the independence of the judiciary, and reject Saied's decisions announced on 25 July, 2021.
Marzouki said: "There is no solution with the coup, except overthrowing it," he added: "I am a man of dialogue and I love dialogue, but experience has proved that there is no dialogue with colonialism, Zionism, apartheid and with tyranny."
Marzouki stressed that "the President, who has become illegitimate, must be dismissed".
He also called for "all the democrats in Tunisia to gather, first, (in reference to the Opposition) in order to lead this delicate and difficult phase to overthrow the coup and, second, to prepare the alternative".
Later Marzouki wrote on his Facebook page: "The messages that I could not deliver to the protesters, despite all the efforts by the supervisors to overcome the intended interference that, from now on, the words of the tyrant about the people will be ridiculous, because you are the people, not what is contained in his imagination; you represent the biggest refutation when he does not stop speaking in your name"; he pointed out that "the goal of the people, of the citizens, is one and does not change: dismissal and prosecution".
Then he continued saying: "The battle against the coup must be spearheaded until its end, so this requires joining forces under the flag of the Constitution. All those who support this intruder on patriotism and revolution know that he is incompetent and unfit, and the preparation for his replacement may be more advanced than we imagine."
He concluded by saying: "Therefore, the democratic front must be formed quickly and to prepare the alternative, since there is no other alternative but the state of law and institutions under the flag of the Constitution that serves the rights and freedoms of all Tunisian people."
Earlier on Sunday, thousands participated in a demonstration in Tunis supporting the independence of the judiciary, rejecting the recent decisions of Kais Saied, amid security reinforcements.
For their part, the protesters raised slogans in the demonstration, which took place on Mohammed V Street in the capital, including "Constitution, Freedom and National Dignity", "Down with the Coup", "Save Democracy", "Loyal and Faithful to the Blood of Martyrs", "The Judiciary is Independent" and "The People Want to dismiss the President".
On Saturday, the Tunisian Presidency announced that Saied signed a decree establishing the Interim Supreme Council of the Judiciary, following his announcement, days earlier, that the current Council became an entity from the past.
The details of this decree, which was published in the official gazette on Sunday, revealed that it contains a provision that bans judges from striking, and another that grants the President "the right to request the dismissal of any judge that violates his professional duties".
For his part, the member of the executive body of the "Citizens Against Coup" initiative, Habib Bouajila, said in a speech during the demonstration: "We are now in the phase of the democratic initiative that present itself as an alternative to the rule after the ending of the coup phase."
"Today, the democratic initiative sends three messages: we say to our people that we have a vision to re-integrate the politicians and the people that have social and economic expectations." Bouajila continued.
He elaborated saying: "We also send a message to the international public opinion – we are a democratic initiative that presents itself today to rule of the country; it has an alternative vision of the coup; when the coup falls down, Tunisia will not fall into the emptiness."
The third message, according to Bouajila is "to the rest of the State's mind, after seven months we consider that Saied has not placed the State in the failed or impossible State classification, but rather in the position of the dissolved State."
On the evening of Monday, 7 February 2022, the Tunisian President announced the formal dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council, while local and international parties expressed deep concern over this step, which is seen by some as an announcement of the start of a new conflict over the President's quest to take power alone.
The Supreme Judicial Council is an independent constitutional body. Its functions include: ensuring the independence of the judiciary, holding judges accountable and granting them professional promotions. It is one of the few remaining state bodies still operating independently, out of the President's control.
In a statement issued a few days ago, the Supreme Judicial Council declared that it refuses to be dissolved in the absence of a constitutional and legal mechanism that approves this. Moreover, many judicial bodies and political parties refused to dissolve the Council.
It is worth mentioning that articles, from 112 to 117, specify the functions of the Council, its powers, components and the methods of the election and appointment of its members. The first elections of the Council were held on 23 October 2016.
On more than one occasion, Saied criticised what he said as the long period of litigation in some cases. He also accused the Council of conducting promotions based on loyalty.
This comes while opponents to Saeed accuse him of trying to control the judiciary after he has gathered the rest of the powers in his hand, which he denies.
Since 25 July, Tunisia has witnessed a severe political crisis, when Saied imposed exceptional measures, including: suspending the Parliament, issuing legislation by presidential decrees, dismissing the government and appointing a new one.
However, the majority of Tunisia's political and civil forces reject these actions, considering them as a "coup against the Constitution," while others support them as a "correcting of the course of the 2011 revolution," which overthrew the former President, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
