On Wednesday, Tunisia’s president fired 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and harboring terrorists in a purge of the court that comes as he strives to rebuild the political system after solidifying one-man rule.
President Kais Saied stated in a televised address that he has “offered opportunity after opportunity and warning after warning to the court to purify itself.” The dismissals were announced in the official gazette a few hours later.
Youssef Bouzaker, the previous chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, was among those fired. Saied changed the members of the Supreme Judicial Council this year as he tried to take control of the judiciary.
The council had been the principal safeguard of judicial independence since Tunisia’s 2011 democratic revolution, and Saied’s modifications provoked charges that he was meddling with the judicial process.
Another famous judge removed was Bachir Akremi, who some political activists accuse of being too sympathetic to the Islamist Ennahda party and of blocking proceedings against it. Both Ennahda and Akremi dispute this.
Last summer, Saied dissolved the government and took executive authority in what his opponents dubbed a coup, before abandoning the 2014 constitution to rule by decree and dissolving the elected parliament.
He claims that his actions were necessary to preserve Tunisia from collapse, and his intervention looked to have considerable public support following years of economic stagnation, political gridlock, and corruption.
Saied, who has also replaced the independent electoral commission, has also stated that a new constitution would be introduced this month and will be submitted to a vote next month. However, practically all Tunisian political groups, as well as the powerful UGTT labor union, have denounced the proposal.
With Tunisia’s economy collapsing and state finances in shambles, Saied faces rising popular resentment over high inflation and unemployment, as well as decreasing public services.
The UGTT said this week that public sector employees will strike on June 16, posing the most direct threat to Saied’s political stance to date.
The US has spent far too much time expecting that individual entreaties to Saied to do the right thing would be effective. However, pleading with autocrats to do the right thing for their nations — or for democracy — is almost always doomed to fail. Saied, like other autocrats, rejects representative democracy, declaring in 2019 that it “has gone bankrupt and its period has passed.” Dialogue and argument would never be enough to persuade him to change his opinion.
The Biden administration is progressively recognizing that verbal pressure without teeth is ineffective. In late March, the State Department suggested cutting both military and economic aid to Tunisia in half. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also stated unequivocally that the funding will not be reinstated unless Saied engages in a “transparent, inclusive — to include political parties, labor, and civil society — reform process.”
However, relying solely on US aid is unlikely to be sufficient. The US, in collaboration with European allies, must contemplate something to deter Saied. This might be the finest and final chance to persuade Saied to rethink his mind. With its economy in shambles, Tunisia requires Western allies more than ever, and both, the US and EU should seize this opportunity to stop Saied from further damaging the country.