Five years after Saied seized power, Tunisians are not well | Thoughts

On July 27, 2021, Tunisian President Kais Saied suspended the parliament in what was then known as the only functioning democracy in the world. As the deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs in the United States, I was sent by Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer to find out what Saied’s intentions are. Former US President Joe Biden expressed his hope for a quick return to parliamentary democracy, and to appoint a prime minister and a government capable of dealing with the country’s looming economic crisis.

During our meeting, President Saied asked Mr. Finer and I to assure President Biden that he is only responding to the demands of the people to end the culture of corruption and corruption, and that what he has done must fulfill the laws of the country. He did not indicate when or if a new minister will be named, a new law will be announced, or if he sees parliament temporarily suspended or dissolved.

To see if we can better understand President Saied’s intentions, we asked to meet his closest adviser, Nadia Akacha, over lunch. Pointing to the Tunisians enjoying themselves on a nearby beach, Mrs. Akacha told us, “See?

Five months later, Mrs. Akacha he may quit his joband within a year, he will be on the run from the law, denying all accusations and opposing the annexation of power to Saied. As for the change that he and many Tunisians are waiting for, they are waiting five years later.

In response to President Saied’s actions, the US government reduced its military aid to Tunisia by 50 percent as a signal to Congress and the Tunisian leadership that all is not well in the relationship between them.

On February 1, 2023, the Biden administration sent me to Tunis as ambassador with instructions to find ways to help put Tunisia back on the road to democracy.

Less than two weeks later, I encountered a problem: almost all the leaders of the political parties in the country were arrested. Soon similar crackdowns on civil society leaders and journalists followed.

In the following years, Tunisians lost many of their rights. The country’s ranking on Freedom House’s “Freedom in the World” has dropped from 70 to 42 between 2020 and 2026, with lower scores indicating less freedom.

At the same time, the Tunisian people did not get anything economically. Tunisia’s real domestic growth (GDP) in 2026 and unemployment is not better than it was in 2018, the year before President Saied came to power, when his percentage to GDP has increased from 73 percent to 81 percent.

President Saied inexplicably rejected as “foreigners” the financial reform program that his government submitted to the International Monetary Fund and received support from the US government, among others.

Meanwhile, with the longevity of the ministry running at about six months, Tunisian officials can’t be sure what their president wants, or what will get them fired. When I asked the head of a large American electricity company what he wanted in Tunisia, he said, “A phone number with someone on the other end.”

Bilateral security cooperation has provided a better environment over the past five years, perhaps because US military aid comes in the form of aid, training, and exercises, rather than loans that President Saied sees as “diktats”. As a result, the Tunisian security forces have all the support they need to eliminate all known terrorists from the country, which is a success given the instability that has plagued the country.

Perhaps here is a way forward for the United States and other cultural partners of Tunisia. They can take advantage of the security that the US and Tunisia have invested hundreds of millions of dollars together since 2014 to help provide similar training and exercises to the security forces from the countries of the Sahel, which are very much needed to stabilize their countries.

The Tunisians can provide all of this much more cheaply than the US can on its own, and it will be more acceptable among African governments than what is currently coming from Washington around the world.

Whether Tunisians decide to take over their country in the next five years, they will need security and stability not only at home, but in their community. If the US and Tunisia’s other traditional partners remain on these important grounds, this will give the Tunisian people the space they need to find their own way of rebuilding their political and economic life.

In the meantime, the United States and others can really help ensure that President Saied’s inability to promote economic growth or tolerate political disunity does not make the country more vulnerable.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect Al Jazeera’s influence.