Tunisian security forces on Friday arrested a member of parliament condemning President Kais Saied’s seizure of power as a “military coup”, his party said.
“It’s a military coup,” independent MP Yassine Ayari said on Facebook after the president interrupted parliament on Sunday and fired the premiere.
Ayari, 30, is a vocal critic of authorities who have had many run-ins with the law in recent years.
He was sentenced to six months in prison in 2015 for slandering the army and received a three-month prison sentence in 2018 for criticizing the military.
His party, Hope and Labor, said he was arrested by members of the president’s security team who did not issue an arrest warrant.
Ayari’s wife said on Facebook that his detention was “violent”.
There was no immediate confirmation from the arrest of the president’s office or prosecutors.
Political chaos
The president’s seizure of power, including a 30-day suspension of parliament, has plunged Tunisia into political unrest.
His opponents accuse him of carrying out a “coup”, but Saied has said his actions are justified by the constitution which allows the head of state to take unspecified exceptional measures in the event of an “imminent threat”.
In a Facebook post, Ayari said the president’s actions represented “a reversal of the constitution … using the military”.
Saied has also declared a fight against corruption and accused 460 businessmen of embezzlement.
In addition to the political unrest, the North African nation is facing a crippling economic crisis, including rising inflation and high unemployment, as well as severe Covid-19 infections.
(AFP)
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