Washington calls on the Tunisian president

Washington calls on the Tunisian president to form a government and return to parliamentary democracy

In a written message from Biden, Washington expressed the need to form a government in Tunisia to confront the economic risks facing the country, and called on the Tunisian president to accelerate the return of parliamentary democracy.

The White House announced in a statement on Friday that a senior US official met in Tunisia with President Kais Saied and urged him to expedite the nomination of a new prime minister and return his country to the path of parliamentary democracy.

John Viner, Deputy National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan delivered a letter from President Joe Biden to Saied, "urging Tunisia's speedy return to the path of parliamentary democracy."

Weiner also stressed "the urgent need to nominate a prime minister who will form an efficient government, capable of addressing the current economic and health crises in Tunisia," more than three weeks after Saied suspended parliament.

During the meeting with Saied, Weiner indicated that Washington "supports the democratic process in Tunisia and is awaiting the next steps that the President of the Republic will take at the political and governmental levels," according to the statement.

In addition to Said, Viner and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Joey Hood, met during their visit to Tunisia with civil society officials.

Tunisian President Kais Saied received a "written message" from his American counterpart, Joe Biden.

According to the Tunisian presidency statement, "Weiner" carried a written message addressed to Said from Biden, without revealing the content of the message.

For his part, Saeed said, according to the statement, that "the exceptional measures taken on July 25th fall within the framework of implementing the constitution and respond to a broad popular will, especially in light of the political, economic and social crises and rampant corruption and bribery."

Said warned against "attempts by some (without identifying specific parties) to spread rumors and promote fallacies about the reality of the situation in Tunisia."

The Tunisian president stated that "there is no cause for concern over the values ​​of freedom, justice and democracy that Tunisia shares with the American society."

He pointed out that he "adopted the will of the people, their issues and concerns, and will not accept injustice, infringement of rights, or a reversal of them, stressing that Tunisia will remain a moderate and open country that clings to its strategic partnerships with its historical friends," according to the text of the statement.

Saeed issued exceptional measures last July 25, on a day when many governorates witnessed popular protests that demanded the overthrow of the entire ruling system and accused the opposition of failure, in light of the political, economic and health crises (the Corona pandemic).

The majority of Tunisian parties rejected Said's exceptional decisions, and some considered them a "coup against the constitution", while others supported them, seeing them as a "correction of course."