In Tunisia, President Kaïs Saïed announces the dissolution of the Superior Council of the Judiciary – Le Monde

Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed took another step on Saturday, February 5, in dismantling the institutional architecture resulting from the 2014 Constitution, by announcing the dissolution of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM). In a statement from the Ministry of the Interior, stating that he “belongs to the past”, Mr. Saïed sealed in a few words the fate of this body which, according to the Basic Law, “ensure the proper functioning of justice and respect for its independence”.

The Head of State justified his decision by “corruption and bias” of the CSM. He denounced its slowness and the obstacles in the treatment of certain cases, in particular the files of the political assassinations of the figures of the Tunisian left, Chokri Belaïd and Mohamed Brahmi, killed in 2013 while campaigning against the Islamist party Ennahda in power. in these post-revolution years. The announcement of the dissolution of the CSM also occurred on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the death of Chokri Belaïd, assassinated on February 6, 2013 in Tunis. “Unfortunately, the case of political assassinations has always been exploited for political ends, and this is repeated today”, commented the lawyer Mouna Kraïem Dridi, teacher at the Faculty of Legal, Political and Social Sciences of Tunis.

The presidential decision weighed on the ceremony in tribute to the militant lawyer, organized Sunday, in Tunis, by left-wing parties and trade union forces. Many political figures present hinted that they supported Kais Saïed’s gesture. Zouhair Maghzaoui, deputy of the People’s Movement (left), called for “release justice which failed to bring to light the truth about these assassinations”. Another rally, invited by the July 25 Movement, a supporter of the president, went to the headquarters of the CSM to support its dissolution. Scenes that illustrate the resentment of part of public opinion towards a judicial system accused of inefficiency in the fight against corruption.

“Justice smear campaign”

According to Judge Raoudha Karafi, Honorary President of the Association of Tunisian Magistrates, this “campaign of denigration of justice prepared public opinion for the dissolution of the CSM”. A measure she describes as “unconstitutional”describing a feeling “of fear and concern” among his peers.

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