Tunisia announces the dissolution of municipal councils and the opposition calls the measure a "distraction"

MADRID, 10 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of Tunisia, Kais Saied, announced this Thursday the dissolution of the municipal councils, formed in 2018 and considered achievements of the country's decentralization processes after the Arab springs.

The president of the National Federation of Municipalities, Adnane Buasida, has admitted that he "waited" for this action from the Government, while recalling that the idea was to defend the concept of decentralization.

From the opposition, the moderate Islamist Ennahda party has expressed its condemnation of the decision to dissolve the councils and replace them with special representations, a measure that took place two months before the term of the elected councils expires.

Thus, he has indicated that the measure has been used to "distract public opinion from the multiple crises, especially "the negative repercussions on diplomatic relations for Tunisia, created by the racist discourse against Africans," reports the Mosaique FM station.

This decision comes in a context of strong tensions in Tunisia, after some twenty opposition figures and journalists have been arrested in a campaign of repression criticized by the international community, due to what is denounced as an authoritarian drift by Saied, who in July 2021, it arrogated all powers after dissolving the Government and Parliament.

The opposition, mostly united around the National Salvation Front, which includes the Islamist party Ennahda -which had the majority in the suspended Parliament in July 2021-, has denounced an authoritarian drift of the president and has demanded his resignation, especially after his call for a boycott in the December and January legislatures resulted in a participation rate close to ten percent.