Tunisian President says current situation prevailing in the country 'not acceptable'
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Tunisian President Kais Saeid said on Monday that the situation currently prevailing in the country is "not acceptable from any point of view".
Mr. Saeid was speaking to the National Security Council in the presence of the Head of Government, Hichem Mechichi, and the President of Parliament, Rached Ghannouchi.
He touched on several issues that have shaken Tunisia recently, including the coronavirus pandemic and protest movements because of the despair of young people following decades of some economic and social policies.
In particular, he accused parties of "bargaining the misery and poverty of the people and transforming part of the population into wood to light a fire before marketing its ashes".
He also felt that the current Constitution "has become like a garment or a shoe, leaving the door wide open to all interpretations", warning "we will not let the country collapse".
"The 2014 Constitution was tailor-made, far from the people's demands for jobs, freedom and dignity," said President Saeid.
H added that that the aim was to establish a legitimacy that has no connection with reality.
Reacting to criticism of him and the presidency, the Tunisian head of state affirmed that "the presidency of the Republic is not a post office box that transmits papers or letters", insisting that the presidency "protects the State and ensures the continuity of its institutions".
Referring to the latest ministerial reshuffle, he stated that "this reshuffle was carried out in response to the interests of the political parties".
He added that the Presidency should have been informed beforehand and not received correspondence after the announcement of the reshuffle.
Alluding to the dispute between him and the Prime Minister, the Tunisian president described the reshuffle by the head of government as "unconstitutional", saying that some personalities proposed are involved in cases of conflict of interest.
He deplored the absence of women in the list of proposed ministers, indicating that women are in a position to fully assume their responsibilities.
Referring to the coronavirus situation, Mr Saeid stressed the need to redouble efforts to make vaccine available.
-0- PANA YY/IN/JSG/BBA/MA 26Jan2021
