Tunisian President fires Prime Minister for mismanagement of economy and COVID-19 pandemic

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Sunday ousted Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and froze the parliament following violent protests and ongoing coronavirus pandemic that left the country's economy in a 'crawling' condition.   
The late-night announcement was broadcasted on the official page of the Tunisian Presidency on Facebook in which President Saied has said he would provisionally command the administration until he designates a new prime minister and added to lift the immunity of all parliament members until his next order. "We have taken these decisions ... until social peace returns to Tunisia and until we save the state,” he said after an emergency security meeting with senior security officials.

Tunisians marched to the streets with the slogan "Get out!"

While reading the firing order of the Prime Minister, he said he used a special constitutional measure that allows him to assume executive power until normalcy is restored in the country. Subsequently, thousands of protestors took to the streets and marched a violent protest with the slogan "Get out!". They welcomed the Tunisian President decision to dissolve the Parliament and lashed out at Prime Minister's recent orders that led to the economic crisis.

The protestor said that the Prime Minister had failed to handle the coronavirus pandemic that also fuelled unemployment among the youth population. Despite, a large deployment of the police force, demonstrators attacked the offices of the Islamist movement Ennahdha and several other parts of towns notably in Sousse, Sfax, Nabeul, Kairouan, and Tozeur. The protestors destroyed computers and other stuff inside and threw documents onto the roads.

Tunisian president warned protestors against using bullets

In order to control the violent mob, police used tear gas and made several arrests. Ennahdha, the dominant force in parliament has termed the attack as a "criminal attack" against the Tunisia democratic government. The party alleged that the gang involved in the attack are trying to seed turmoil and disruption in the country. While addressing the violent protest, President warned those involved in exercising bullet shots at the streets of Tunisia and said whosoever shoots a bullet, the armed troops will respond with bullets."

(With inputs from AP)

(Image Credit: Présidence Tunisie/Hichem Mechichi Facebook)