After a months-long crackdown and several arrests of his political rivals, Kais Saied was sworn in as Tunisia’s President. Kais Saied is a 66-year-old former law professor who was sworn in for the second term as Tunisia’s President.
In his oath taking speech, he called for a “cultural revolution” to fight unemployment, terrorism and corruption, just weeks after being re-elected with 90.7% of the vote.
Saied said in the speech to members of the Tunisian parliament,”The goal is to build a country where everyone can live with dignity.”
Mr. Saied’s re-election on October 7 followed by a chaotic first term in power. In the first term as a president he suspended the country’s parliament, modified its post-Arab Spring constitution and jailed dozens of his political Critics, Media, Business opponents and Civil society opponents.
He justified these crackdowns as a necessary step to fight corruption and state enemies, appealing to Tunisians unhappy with his predecessor’s handling of the country during a massive national protests that resulted in Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s removal in 2011.
He said he would deal with “thieves and traitors in the pay of foreigners” and accused “counter-revolutionary forces” of blocking his efforts to help Tunisia’s failing economy during his first term. He added, “The task was not easy. The dangers were great. The weapons of the old regime were like vipers that moved everywhere. You could hear them hissing, even if you couldn’t see them. “
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The National Union of Tunisian Journalists corrected Mr. Saied for stopping many journalists from covering the sworn-in ceremony on Monday, in spite of his promise that he is going to protect freedoms. The group said in a press release on Monday, “its strong condemnation of the ongoing blackout policy and restrictions imposed on journalistic work.”
