US urges Tunisia to protect ‘nascent democracy’ after president sacks government
- President Kais Saied on Sunday dismissed the prime minister and ordered the parliament shut for 30 days following street protests
- US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US was ‘troubled’ by the closing of media offices in Tunisia
The United States on Monday voiced alarm over the Tunisian president’s sacking of the government and urged the birthplace of the Arab spring not to give up its nascent democracy.
“Tunisia must not squander its democratic gains. The United States will continue to stand on the side of Tunisia’s democracy,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
The United States has been in contact with Tunisian officials “to stress that solutions to Tunisia’s political and economic troubles should be based on the Tunisian constitution and the principles of democracy, human rights and freedom”, he said in a statement.
He said the United States was “troubled” by the closing of media offices and urged “scrupulous respect for freedom of expression and other civil rights”.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said it was too early to determine whether Tunisian President Kais Saied had carried out a coup, saying the State Department would carry out a legal analysis.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Saied to respect democracy.
