The day marks the reopening of Parliament, two years after its closure by President Kaïs Saïed’s coup and its dissolution in March 2022.
With our correspondent in Tunis, Lilia Blaise
The inaugural session of the new Tunisian Parliament is due to take place this Monday, March 13. Little information has filtered through on the holding of this first session of an assembly with very limited powers which must elect its president on Monday and establish its rules of procedure.
“ Parliament will not be like the one before said President Kais Saied during a visit to the premises of a public newspaper, the daily The PressSaturday March 11 before adding: “ These deputies must understand that they will work under the control of the Tunisian people. »
Since his coup of July 25, 2021, Kaïs Saïed has constantly repeated that he wants to break with the semi-parliamentary system that had prevailed after the revolution and the political parties. During his visit on Saturday, he even castigated the idea that future deputies form parliamentary blocs, “ an outdated practice in his words.
It is therefore with very little room for maneuver that the new Parliament will hold its first session on Monday. 154 deputies must sit for the first time. It is also difficult to know the new dynamics of the parliamentary architecture, the political tendencies of the new deputies being still rather vague. Some come from left-wing parties close to Kaïs Saïed, others are simple movements or supporters of the president. According to an investigation by the Tunisian online newspaper Al Qatibanearly half of the newly elected members still come from political parties, while the other half have not yet openly declared their leanings.