Kais Saied rejects calls to end Tunisian gov’t crisis
August 7, 2021, 12:36 am

Kais Saied rejects calls to end Tunisian gov’t crisis

Kais said-Tunisia

According to The Media Line, Tunisia’s President Kais Saied said in a video published on Thursday that there was “no turning back” from his decision to freeze parliament and assume executive power, and that “there is no dialogue except with the honest.”

The media outlet reported, the president said, he would hold no talks with “cancer cells.”

His comments came in response to calls earlier Thursday by the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, the largest party in Tunisia’s parliament, for dialogue over Saied’s ousting of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and seizing of power in a move that critics have called a “coup.”

The Media Line added, the powerful Tunisian General Labour Union, along with the governments of the United States and France, has called on Saied to appoint a new government and end the state of emergency in the country.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and ranking member Jim Risch said in a joint statement on Thursday that “President Saied must recommit to the democratic principles that underpin US-Tunisia relations, and the military must observe its role in a constitutional democracy.”

Source: themedialine
Image source: themedialine

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.