Washington D.C.- Lawmakers and rights groups in the United States are calling on the Biden administration to pressure Tunisian President Kais Saied to stop what they describe as the North African country. “democratic backsliding”.
In a letter to top members of the US House panel that allocates funds to the State Department, US lawmakers urged Washington to condition parts of the US security assistance package to Tunisia. .
The letter, a draft of which was shared with Al Jazeera, garnered 12 signatures from House members Tuesday morning, including Tom Malinowski, who helped lead the effort, Joe Wilson, Adam Schiff, Ro Khanna, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. .
“President Kais Saied’s seizure of power from July 25, 2021 threatens to derail this democratic transition and could usher in another dictatorship in the region or a period of heightened unrest and instability,” the letter reads.
“The US position has remained relatively muted as Saied has consolidated control over the executive, legislative and judicial branches and cracked down on dissent.”
This is the latest push by US lawmakers to get the administration of President Joe Biden to do more to protect democracy in Tunisia. It comes as the State Department submits its 2023 budget request to Congress, which has the authority to appropriate funds for the executive branch.
The document calls for the State Department funding bill to include language requiring the Biden administration to withhold portions of US security assistance to Tunisia “until” the Saied government meets security standards. human rights.
That includes ending the prosecution of journalists and politicians in military courts, remove military personnel blocking the Tunisian parliament building, and the cessation of the “repression of the fundamental rights of civilians and political and media figures”.
Elected in 2019, Saied froze the Tunisian parliament last year and later dissolved it in March to rule by decree.
While critics criticized the movements as a “coup” that risked returning the country to the authoritarianism of the pre-2011 uprisings that toppled Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Saied and his supporters say their actions are necessary “reforms” aimed at fighting corruption.
Last week, Saied also took control of Tunisia Election Commission and restructured it in a decree that raised new concerns about the integrity of future elections, including a July referendum on a new constitution.
On Tuesday, the US State Department said it was “deeply concerned” by the decision.
“A genuinely independent electoral authority is essential, given its constitutional role in Tunisia’s upcoming referendum and parliamentary elections,” spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
“The United States has consistently communicated to Tunisian leaders the importance of upholding the independence of key democratic institutions and ensuring that Tunisia returns to democratic governance.”
The Tunisian embassy in Washington, DC did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday, 50 American rights groups and American Muslim organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling on the Biden administration to use its influence to pressure Saied to “restore democratic order” in Tunisia.
“Tunisians made difficult strides over the ensuing decade to establish a long-sought democracy, even as other post-Arab Spring states regressed into dictatorial rule or descended into civil war,” says the letter, which was signed by Democracy. for the Arab World Now (DAWN), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and American Muslims for Palestine, among others.
“But now Tunisia’s delicate democratic experiment is rapidly being reversed after a blatant power grab by its autocratic president Kais Saied.”
The groups said the Biden administration should “match rhetoric” with action by conditioning aid to the North African country. “We call on the Biden administration to suspend US military assistance until Tunisia is on the path to democracy,” they said.
The letter also urged Washington to halt $500 million in development grants that “requires Tunisia to reach democratic thresholds, until this very condition is met.”
Tunisia has long been seen as the only success story of the arab spring – the 2011 uprisings against autocratic rule that spread across several countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
US aid to Tunisia, including security assistance, increased significantly after the country’s uprising in 2011 and the US designated Tunisia as a country main ally outside NATO in 2015, consolidating the alliances between the two countries.
But Biden’s proposed budget for 2023, which was released in late March, calls for cutting security assistance for Tunisia to about $61 million, down from $121 million last year, the Al-Monitor news website first reported earlier this month.
The Biden administration has repeatedly expressed “concern” about Saied’s conduct.
“We have consistently communicated to Tunisian officials that any political reform process must be transparent and inclusive, and must be carried out in coordination with a variety of political parties, unions and civil society,” the State Department’s Price said after that the Tunisian parliament was dissolved last year. month.
“A rapid return to constitutional governance, including an elected parliament, is essential for democratic governance and will ensure widespread and lasting support for the reforms needed to help Tunisia’s economy recover.”