Tunisian Lawmaker Arrested Amidst Growing Crackdown on Dissent

Tunisian police detained lawmaker Ahmed Saidani on Wednesday, according to two of his colleagues. This incident seems to highlight an increasing crackdown on those critical of President Kais Saied.

Recently, Mr. Saidani has drawn attention for his severe critiques of the president.

Just a day before his arrest, he took to Facebook to mock Saied, referring to him as the “commander-in-chief of sewage and stormwater drainage” and criticizing his lack of action.

Saidani was elected during parliamentary elections at the end of 2022, which had an alarmingly low voter turnout. This came after Saied dissolved the previous parliament and dismissed the government back in 2021.

Since then, Mr. Said has governed by decree, a development that the opposition has labeled a coup.

With Saied consolidating power since 2021, many opposition leaders, journalists, and critics have found themselves imprisoned.

Activists and human rights organizations argue that Mr. Saied has fortified his authoritarian rule, rendering Tunisia an “open-air prison” to stifle dissent. While Mr. Saied refutes claims of dictatorship, he insists he is merely enforcing the law and seeking to “cleanse” the nation.

Interestingly, Saidani, who initially supported President Saied’s stance towards political opponents, has reversed course and become an outspoken critic in recent months. He accuses Saied of attempting to centralize decision-making while shifting blame for national issues onto others.

Last week, in a particularly scathing remark, Mr. Saidani ridiculed the president for “taking up the hobby of taking pictures with the poor and needy,” noting with irony that Saied claims to not only hold solutions for Tunisia but also to possess a global strategy to save humanity.

Despite parliamentary immunity usually protecting lawmakers from arrest while performing their duties, they can still be detained if implicated in a crime.