President of the Republic Kais Saied said in a phone call he received from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday evening preparations are being made for the next steps, in order to move from this exceptional situation into a normal situation.

At the phone call, the President of the Republic explained the reasons that led him to implement Article 80 of the Constitution, saying this decision was necessitated by the responsibility he bears after Parliament had turned into an arena of conflict and bloodshed and its work was disrupted on many occasions due to physical and verbal violence, the Presidency said in a statement.

He added that many inaccuracies that are baseless and have nothing to do with reality are being spread abroad. Indeed, a number of companies with suspicious source funds are used to offend Tunisia.

He also indicated that the Constitution has not been suspended, it is rather the membership of Parliament members that has been suspended until the danger which is still prevailing in the country is over.

He stressed that corruption was widespread in the state and in the Parliament, and when the immunity of members of the House of People’s Representatives was lifted, some of them were prosecuted and it was found that some of them had been convicted since 2018, besides other cases that have absolutely nothing to do with freedoms or rights.

The President of the Republic stressed the need for Tunisia’s partners to understand that the economic and social conditions are the primary problem. These are compounded by the fabrication of crises and the dissemination of lies and slander, as well as corruption and looting of the Tunisian people’s resources by those who claim to be victims, while they are responsible for these deteriorating conditions.

The phone call also dealt with the «age-long» Tunisian-US relations and ways to further expand them in light of the situation in the world and Tunisia.

Saied asked the US Secretary of State to extend to the US President, his wishes for a speedy recovery, following the illness he faced in the past few days.

The US Secretary of State expressed his country’s desire to see these reforms find their way to materialisation as soon as possible.

He highlighted the US continued support to Tunisia and its backing to the support it can receive from a number of countries and international organisations when the reform deadlines are set.

Source: Tap News Agency