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Is Tunisia’s fragile democracy under threat?

In the midst of stifling political, health and economic crises, Tunisian President Kais Saied decided to sack the prime minister and suspend parliament in a move some described as a “coup.”
The Tunisian army barricades the parliament building in the capital, Tunis, on July 26, 2021.

TUNIS — Tunisian President Saied Kais named a new interior minister on Thursday, less than a week after he had sacked the prime minister and dissolved the country's parliament in moves he claimed were in line with public opinion and aimed at safeguarding the country. His opponents, meanwhile, decried what they deemed a blatant power grab and "coup," and the country remains sharply divided.

Kais issued on July 29 a presidential decree appointing Ridha Garsalaoui, a former national security adviser to the presidency, to run the Interior Ministry, according to a video posted on the Tunisian presidency’s official Facebook page. 

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