US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said that Tunisian President Kais Saied expressed his intention to return the country to the democratic path after he invoked a national emergency over the pandemic and poor governance to dismiss the prime minister, freeze parliament and seize executive control.
“The intentions he expressed to me were to return Tunisia to that democratic path and to act in a way that was consistent with the constitution,” said Blinken about a phone conversation he had with Saied on Monday. "But of course we have to look at the actions that the president takes, that Tunisia takes."
Blinken spoke in a television interview, according to a transcript provided by the State Department.
Saied appointed on Thursday his national security adviser to take control of the Interior Ministry but promised to uphold rights and freedoms. "No one has been arrested. No one has been deprived of his rights," he said.
