TUNIS (Reuters) -The United States is concerned about the state of democracy in Tunisia, a senior U.S. official said on Monday, calling on authorities in the North African country to respect freedom of expression and halt civilian military trials.
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Uzra Zeya stressed in a statement following a visit to Tunisia the importance of an inclusive political and economic reform process, in coordination with political parties, unions and civil society.
The U.S. comments add to pressure on President Kais Saied, who critics say is seeking to cement one-man rule since he suspended parliament and assumed executive power last summer, before saying he would rule by decree.
His opponents say this amounted to a coup.
Saied says his actions were needed to save Tunisia from what he describes as a corrupt, self-serving elite and a political system that brought a decade of paralysis and stagnation in the wake of the 2011 revolution that introduced democracy.
But critics say his actions, which also include replacing the body that guaranteed judicial independence and threatening to stop foreign funding for civil society organizations, show little tolerance for dissent.
Tunisian state media will go on strike on April 2 to protest at the president’s “attempts to control public media”, the main journalists union said, amid fears for the right to free speech.
Saied, a former constitutional professor, has shown little appetite for compromise since his landslide second-round election victory in 2019.
He has already held an online consultation, with very low turnout, to canvas public opinion about the new constitution, and has promised to name a panel of Law professors to draft it and put it to a referendum in July.
But Saied’s roadmap was rejected by most of the parties who say he is seeking to consolidate his own political project.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Catherine Evans and Alexander Smith)
