Coordination brings together the political formations of the “Democratic Current”, the “Democratic Forum for Labor and Freedoms” (Ettakatol), and the “Republican Party” (Al Jomhouri)
The coordination of “social democratic parties” in Tunisia announced on Saturday its rejection of the decree-law amending the organic law and the composition of the Independent High Authority for Elections (Isie), initialed Thursday by the President of the Republic, Kaïs Saïed.
This is what emerges from a press release published by the coordination of the “social democratic parties”, – which brings together the political formations of the “Democratic Current”, the “Democratic Forum for Labor and Freedoms” (Ettakatol), and the “Republican Party” (Al Jomhouri) -, and consulted by the Anadolu Agency.
“This decision marks Tunisia’s return through the front door to the era of electoral fraud and the compromising of the expression of the electorate,” the statement said.
The coordination of “social democratic parties”, considers that this decree-law, “unmasked the program of (President) Kaïs Saïed aimed at establishing an authoritarian and dictatorial regime in which the people can in no way exercise their sovereignty by freely choosing their representatives, as required by democratic practice”.
The three parties call for “mobilizing all the living forces of the country to impose a return to democracy, put an end to the coup against the Constitution and face up to attempts to dismantle the State”.
The decree-law amending the organic law and the composition of the Independent Higher Authority for Elections was published on Friday in the Official Journal of the Republic of Tunisia (JORT).
By virtue of this decree-law, the President of the Republic appoints the seven members of Isie.
Isie is a constitutional body that has organized and supervised the elections in Tunisia since October 2011. The Isie council is made up of nine “honest, independent and competent” members, elected by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly by single-member secret ballot in successive rounds until full composition. The mandate of each member of the Isie Council is set at a non-renewable six-year term, while the renewal of the composition of the body’s council is done by thirds every two years.
Tunisia has been suffering, since July 25, from an acute political crisis, when the President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed had imposed “exceptional” measures, with regard, among other things, to the dissolution of Parliament as well as the Superior Council of the judiciary while legislating by presidential decrees.
The majority of Tunisian political and social forces reject Saïed’s decisions, which they consider to be “a coup d’etat against the Constitution”, while other parties support them, considering that they are a “restoration of the process of the Revolution” of 2011.
