Tunisia’s President Kais Saied on 30 March announced the dissolution of parliament after a group of MPs met virtually for the first time since the president’s 25 July 2021 power grab and voted to reverse the decisions Mr Saied has taken since – including the freezing of parliament and suspension of large parts of the constitution (MEES, 29 October 2021). The president also refused calls by opposition parties to hold parliamentary elections within three months. The current plan calls for a vote in December (MEES, 17 December 2021).

The decisions leave Tunisia’s democracy on life support. The state of its economy is also in tatters with new funding from the IMF essential to help prevent financial collapse (MEES, 25 March). The Fund on 30 March cited “further progress in the technical discussions with the Tunisian authorities.” Whilst nominally positive-sounding this also suggests that the $4bn Tunisia is urgently seeking from the IMF will not be released anytime soon. (CONTINUED - 204 WORDS)