Denigration, Kais Saied’s political weapon of choice

Since his arrival to power on July 25, 2021, Kais Saied has often evoked “plots hatched in dark rooms,” never deigning to cite specific names or facts. As the president has assumed full power, his discourse has become increasingly aggressive, with conspiracy theories surfacing as the catchall response to every problem facing the country.

In this context, a campaign was launched to expel undocumented migrants of sub-Saharan origin from the country. Following a national security meeting, the Office of the President issued an official statement on February 21, 2023 which set things in motion. The notably virulent text made reference to the extreme right “great replacement” conspiracy theory coined by French writer Renaud Camus. As per the logic espoused by the presidency, waves of irregular migration into Tunisia are the effect of a “criminal agenda underway since the beginning of the 20th century which aims to alter Tunisia’s demographic composition.”

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The statement adopted the same xenophobic rhetoric that is the trademark of the Tunisian Nationalist Party, known for its hostility towards sub-Saharan migrants. In the text, the president claimed that the hidden objective behind irregular migration into Tunisia is to render the country an exclusively African nation, denuded of its Arab and Islamic dimensions. Saied thus called for an end to irregular migration, associating the latter with violent and criminal activities. He further urged for the strict application of a law concerning the status of foreigners and the crossing of Tunisian borders.

The text galvanized an uproar on social media. On the ground, however, massive expulsions took effect, accompanied by acts of violence targeting undocumented sub-Saharan migrants. During a meeting with the president of Guinea-Bissau on March 8, 2023, Saied attempted to lighten the tone, highlighting the “lack of understanding” and even the “ill-will” and “malicious discourse” of those who spoke out against racist discourse. He added, for good measure, that “certain members of my family are married to Africans,” and “my friends from law school in Tunis were Africans.”

Faulty communication

Ever since Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s last appearance on December 28, 2010 in which he referred to protesters as vandals and mercenaries, no presidential discourse since the Revolution has stirred the street to action more than that of Kais Saied. In its report, “Analyse de la communication politique : une approche quantitative et qualitative : mai-juillet 2023,” [Analysis of political communication: a quantitative and qualitative approach, May-July 2023],” the Mena Media Monitorin calls out Saied’s hostile discourse. The analysis underlines conspiracy theory, slander as well as the stigmatization of migrants, the media, and political adversaries among others. The scope of the study covers the three-month period from May through July 2023, and examines 212 text and video publications from the Office of the President’s official webpage. According to the Observatory, 67% of videos reviewed had been edited with the apparent intention to conceal this fact, including fragments of presidential meetings with officials.

Rather than search for solutions, Saied prefers to divert attention with threats and accusations of treason. As the situation grew worse for sub-Saharan migrants in Sfax in July 2023, the president wondered aloud during a national security council meeting, “How, in the middle of sand dunes in the desert, they [migrants] had obtained cell phones?” Media outlets reported that migrants had managed to hide their phones in infants’ diapers so that they would be able to call for help.

Press and publication

Generally believed to have been abandoned after the Revolution, censorship appears to have made a comeback in Tunisia. Saied, for his part, has scrambled to refute this apparent trend. During his visit to the bookstore Al-Kitab in Tunis on May 2, 2023, the president denied accusations of censorship after several books (including “Frankestein tunisien” [Tunisian Frankenstein] by novelist Kamel Riahi) were withdrawn from the annual Book Fair held in the capital. “Some have said that this book was withdrawn, however, it is available in bookstores. A bunch of lies and slander! They claim that liberties are threatened in Tunisia,” he declared before the cameras, the aforementioned novel in hand. In the meantime, editors had previously informed Nawaat of the removal of two books from the Fair. Both titles were subsequently returned to the shelves upon “verification of their content.”

In June 2023, Saied visited the headquarters of “Dar Assabah,” a Tunisian press group which has found itself incapable of paying employees as it faces a severe financial crisis. Addressing the group’s general director and several journalists, Saied remarked, “We will not allow thieves hidden behind columns of text to rob us of our history,” adding, “They talk about the decline of freedom of expression. They create idols, venerate them, then create new ones once the old have fallen,” without specifying to whom precisely these jabs were directed. In his meeting on July 27, 2023 with former Prime Minister Najla Bouden and Minister of Finance Sihem Nemsia, his target was Shems FM, a private radio station that was forfeited to the government. Saied called the station a propaganda tool and denounced organizations which he believes to represent “an extension of foreign powers.” He continued, “These are platforms which denigrate the state under the pretext of exercising freedom of expression—whereas they are devoid of any real thought.”

Ever loyal to his customary fallback—conspiracy theory—the president blamed certain “parties” for provoking price increases in order to aggravate the situation. With regard to the country’s bread shortage, decisive factors such as drought, the Russia-Ukraine war and decreased wheat production are deemed mere background details. During the same meeting in July 2023, Saied lashed out against civil society’s so-called shady actors…And the vague accusations abound.

Visiting Sfax on June 10, 2023, Saied noted that “some believe they can take control of the state apparatus in order to blow it up from within.” Cases of corruption were evoked in similarly foggy terms during a meeting with the Minister of Justice on May 8, 2023 when the president accused “networks” of infiltrating the government.

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“The state cannot recover unless it eradicates these networks, which aim to destroy the country and society. Judges must put an end to these networks which have ravaged everything like swarms of grasshoppers,” the president insisted.

It is worth noting that Kais Saied did not wait for July 25, 2021 to articulate conspiracy-driven views. During the commemoration of the beginning of the Revolution in Sidi Bouzid on December 17, 2019, he alluded to known parties who “hatch plots in dark rooms,” without elaborating any concrete details.

In sum: political action and dialogue have been pushed aside to make room for legal action and accusations of plots against national security, while concepts as fundamental as the rule of law continue, in practice, to be sorely abused.