Tunisian parliament convenes for the first time since 2021 suspension. Here's what happened

The Tunisian parliament held its first session with the recently elected members, on Monday (March 13), nearly 20 months after it was suspended in July 2021. The members who were chosen in an election which took place in December and January with a voter turnout of 11 per cent, began the session which was closed to all but the state media. Reportedly, independent or foreign journalists were barred from entering the parliament building.

The north African country has recently witnessed widespread protests organised by different groups including the opposition coalition, its powerful labour union UGTT, journalists, and so on. In 2021, incumbent President Kais Saied shut down the previously elected parliament, a move which has been described as a power grab and a coup by many in the country.

What happened during the session?

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Being the oldest in the new parliament, MP Saleh Mbarki from the Kabaria constituency chaired the opening session and said, “Our duties as people's representatives are to work in partnership with the executive authority for the unity of the state,” reported Reuters.

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Meanwhile, the main opposition coalition, The National Salvation Front, in a statement said they will not recognise this parliament and said that it came about via a “putschist constitution and elections shunned by the overwhelming majority of voters.”

The low voter turnout has been attributed to most parties boycotting the election which left candidates without party affiliation contesting in the elections. Therefore, most of the new parliament members are political independents who will not be an effective check on executive power, Tunisian activists have warned, reported the Guardian.

Out of the 161 seats of the Tunisian parliament, only 154 are occupied due to the lack of candidates for representatives of Tunisians living abroad. During the first session of the new parliament, on Monday, lawmakers elected their speaker, Ibrahim Bouderbala, the former president of the Bar Association and supposedly a staunch supporter of Saied, reported Reuters.

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Notably, the new parliament will not have the same power that the previous one did as Saied sacked the government, froze parliament, and seized almost total power of the country in 2021 after which he also wrote a new constitution last year.

According to this new constitution, the parliament cannot impeach the president or even hold the government accountable for their actions, as per media reports. Additionally, bills proposed by the president, in this Saied, will be prioritised as opposed to those put forward by other lawmakers.

Journalists barred from attending the first session

For the first time since the 2011 revolution when ousted late dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was in power Tunisia witnessed a ban on journalists. As only journalists from state-controlled media like the state TV, radio, and news agency were allowed to cover the proceedings of the first session of the new parliament on Monday. Meanwhile, journalists from foreign and private outlets were barred from the parliament building.

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“Lawmakers it is a shame. The press is under siege”, journalists outside the building chanted as per Reuters. The move was also defended by Fatma Mseddi, a newly elected MP who said that the decision was taken to avoid “disorder” and convey an “inappropriate image”. The national union of journalists in Tunisia also issued a statement which draws parallels between the current situation and the pre-revolution time.

Amira Mohamed, vice president of the SNJT, told Reuters how the move is a “scandal and a serious violation of press freedom”. She added, “It harms the image of Tunisia and attacks the citizen's right to a free and pluralistic media.” Previously, speaking to the independent radio station Mosaique FM in Tunisia she had also said that media was being censored and that the union would “opt for escalation” if this ban continues.

(With inputs from agencies)

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