Political Parties Call for Roadmap in Tunisia but Differ over Goals

Tunisian President Kais Saied meets a group of union leaders and civil society members (Tunisian presidency)
Tunisian President Kais Saied meets a group of union leaders and civil society members (Tunisian presidency)
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Political Parties Call for Roadmap in Tunisia but Differ over Goals

Tunisian President Kais Saied meets a group of union leaders and civil society members (Tunisian presidency)
Tunisian President Kais Saied meets a group of union leaders and civil society members (Tunisian presidency)

Tunisian President Kais Saied and Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi have phoned senior world officials, including US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, to reaffirm their support for the multilateral and democratic track in their country.

In their calls, Saied and Jerandi stressed that recent decisions the administration had taken were “circumstantial” and aimed at “correction and reform,” not overturning the Tunisian constitution or enforcing martial law.

The president had suspended parliament, dismissed the government, and said he plans to put some lawmakers on trial for corruption.

He also said he would choose a new prime minister. He lifted the parliamentary immunity of legislators and later fired the defense and justice ministers.

While many political parties in the North African state have collectively stepped up their demands for a clear roadmap following the president’s move, they differed on the reasoning, objectives, and timeline the plan should take.

As for Saied, he held marathon meetings with representatives of bar associations, judges, journalists, worker unions, farmers to reassure them that his move does not mean he is straying the country away from democracy.

He explained the reasons behind removing the government of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi with the help of the army and freezing parliament.

After meeting with the president in the presence of national figures, Ibrahim Bouderbala, the head of Tunisia’s Bar Association, praised “Saied’s will to support national political dialogue with all political parties without exclusion, including the leaders of Ennahda Party and other opposition parties.”

Bouderbala stated that the only political figures to be excluded from the dialogue are corruption suspects that include several politicians and current and former lawmakers facing charges of smuggling, tax evasion, taking bribes, and receiving illicit financial support.

Meanwhile, a handful of senior constitutional law experts in Tunisia, including human rights defender Salwa Hamrouni and the academic Saghir Zakraoui, praised the decisions announced by Saied on Sunday evening.

Despite the support the president’s move received from the experts, some political leaders in Tunisia and abroad described his decisions as a “coup against the constitution and the results of parliamentary elections.”



Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 11 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."