‘Coup’ in Tunisia: Why Arab Spring’s last light is dimming
With a single announcement, the last embers of the once-blazing Arab Spring were dimmed by what some are calling a constitutional coup in the Arab world’s lone democracy.
On Sunday, Tunisia’s populist president, Kais Saied, seized emergency powers for what he pledged would be a 30-day interim period. He dismissed the prime minister and defense minister, “froze” parliament, and mobilized army units to bar elected representatives from the parliament building.
By using the emergency measure, Mr. Saied, a former constitutional law professor, upended a carefully devised system that had divided powers to avoid a backslide into a strongman dictatorship such as that of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted in the Arab Spring.
With his suspension of parliament and no higher court to challenge him, the president’s rule is near-supreme, prompting fears among Tunisian democrats and Arab activists that the country that
“Imminent danger”Military solutionNo guardrailsEnigmatic president
