The United States of America has decried Tunisia’s democracy, stating that it has experienced an alarming erosion of norms over the past year and reversed many of the people’s hard-won gains since 2011.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken stated this on Thursday, making reference to the 2011 revolution that introduced democracy.
The US is worried that the new constitution could weaken democracy and erode respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and that the process of drafting it limited scope for genuine debate.
In reaction to this development, the opposition parties in Tunisia described Saied’s actions as tantamount to a coup and will return the country to autocracy, have questioned whether the official turnout figure of 30.5% in Monday’s vote was inflated, and have said there were procedural abuses and data anomalies.
Meanwhile, Saied asserted that his moves were legal and were needed to save Tunisia from years of stagnation.
