Tunisian president ousts government amid COVID-19 protests

Tunisia's president, Kais Saied, late on Sunday suspended parliament with help from the army, a move that has been denounced as a coup by the country's main parties. The move comes following mass protests over the government's COVID-19 response and a long economic crisis.

Army troops surrounded Tunisia's parliament on Monday and blocked its speaker from entering after the president suspended the legislature, fired the prime minister and other top members of government, and implemented a curfew, sparking concerns for the North African country's young democracy.

Hichem Mechichi, the dismissed prime minister, said he cannot be a disruptive element, and he will hand the responsibility to whomever the president chooses, in a move that may ease the North African country's tough political crisis.

"In order to preserve the safety of all Tunisians, I declare that I align myself, as I have always, by the side of our people, and declare that I will not take up any position or responsibility in the state," Mechichi said in a statement on Facebook.

He added in the statement that he is ready to serve Tunisia from any location.

However Rached Ghannouchi, Tunisia's parliament speaker who heads the Islamist party that dominates the legislature, said the president did not consult with him or the prime minister as required.

Ghannouchi called the president's move a coup against the constitution and the Arab Spring revolution, and insisted the parliament would continue to work.

Saied's action followed months of deadlock and disputes pitting him against Mechichi and a fragmented parliament, as Tunisia descended into an economic crisis exacerbated by one of Africa's worst COVID-19 outbreaks. As a result, the president invoked emergency powers under the constitution late on Sunday to dismiss Mechichi and suspend parliament for 30 days.

"We have decided to take these decisions until social peace returns to Tunisia and until we save the state," Saied said on national television.

Tensions between the prime minister and the president have been blamed for poor management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In addition, a bungled vaccination drive led to the sacking of the health minister earlier this month.

According to data from the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 percent of Tunisia's population has been fully vaccinated to date, while more than 90 percent of the country's hospital beds in intensive care units are occupied.