Since its inauguration two years ago, Tunisian Parliament has faced a slew of accusations. Mainly because it ceased to show the slightest signs of opposition to the country’s executive authority. But also because its actions appear limited to prioritizing the presidency’s draft laws; among them, the extremely controversial draft law on national and foreign loans.
Upon taking oath in October following his victory for a second term, President Kais Saied mentioned three “key” points which, according to him, define the essence of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People (ARP). In his speech (which lasted nearly an hour), he proclaimed that:
There is no place for traitors, conspirators or those who throw themselves into the midst of colonialist circles, like those who steal from their father’s home; their father will not forgive them, nor will the one who purchased the stolen goods.
Saied announced with indignation that “the term normalization with the criminal Zionist entity does not exist in our vocabulary.” He lauded the deputies who approved a revision of the electoral law several days prior to the vote, affirming that “the last criminal agreement sets out to pull the country into a legitimacy conflict and infighting. Thank God, deputies foiled plans elaborated by global Zionist agents and members of the Freemasonry.”
Paradoxically, the same points that Kais Saied highlighted during his nationalistically-inclined speech would become the greatest indicators of the Executive’s tightening grip on Parliament. Having denounced the idea that anyone “throw himself into the arms of the colonizers,” the President presented draft laws for borrowing from Italy and France. According to Parliamentary President Brahim Bouderbala, it was Saied who opposed the adoption of the law criminalizing normalization. Last but not least, the scandalous violation of the law by deputies when they approved a revision of the electoral law just before elections were held.
Dome of Debt
During his meeting with Governor of the Central Bank (BCT) Fethi Nouri, President Saied stated that “experience has proven the success of this approach based on self-sufficiency, and it is vital that we pursue this route.” It was not the first time that Saied echoed such rhetoric. In contrast, certain deputies raised their voices against the will to force their institution to systematically approve draft laws presented by the presidency, the majority of which relate to domestic and external loan agreements. For the parliamentary deputy from Gafsa, Mohamed Ali, the Assembly is no more than “a dome of debt.” Interviewed by Nawaat, he explains:
There are deputies who are dissatisfied with how the Assembly functions. The latter has not been capable of preserving its independence from the executive authority since the latter imposes its orientations upon Parliament—not to the end of enacting reforms, but in order to strengthen its positions. Since the new deputies began, the ARP bureau receives laws requiring immediate examination and which have been issued by the government or the presidency, including loan agreements. In one year, Parliament has approved nearly 25 loans, the majority of which are for neither investment nor reforms.
Ali describes pressure applied by the executive power and the ARP bureau’s prioritization of proposals submitted by the presidency (including those relating to loans) to the detriment of initiatives submitted by deputies as “disdain for the efforts of parliamentarians.” He adds, “We face strong pressure from the executive power, which forces us to submit to its will using all means possible. During the debate on the finance law, the Minister of Finance wittingly cut out provisions which favored retirees and handicapped persons. However, the Minister is not the only one to blame; everyone knows that we are in a presidential system and that the President holds the power levers. In this sense, he is responsible for the absence of reforms, owing to a lack of will to undertake them,” the deputy explains.
Contrary to official rhetoric, statistics show that the Tunisian government depends essentially on loans, to the extent that Parliament’s main task is to precipitate their examination and approval. In fact, Tunisia obtained loans approved by the current Parliament equal to the sum of 810 million euros, or 2,683.85 million dinars from Italy, the European Reconstruction and Development Bank (BERD), the European Investment Bank (BEI), the French Development Agency (AFD) and the KfW Development Bank,in addition to African, Asian and Arab lenders for a total of 1.581 billion dollars, or 5.02 billion dinars over the same period.
According to the Finance Law of 2025, the value of external loans increased between 2021 and 2024, from 7,456 million dinars to 16,445 million dinars, a fact which corroborates Mohamed Ali’s description of Parliament as “a simple loan approval mechanism.”
The deputy continues: “Talking about national sovereignty remains wishful thinking in the absence of a real will to reform the legislation which governs investment, water, agriculture and taxes. We defend national sovereignty, but unfortunately we do not have the latitude to express it within Parliament. The chances of success of any group who attempts to resist within Parliament are minimal, since the President of the Assembly has chosen to submit to the executive authority and cannot oppose what he imposes upon his institution. We once believed that the Assembly’s previous bureau was the source of the problem. However, the new bureau seems to be following in its footsteps. We are at a stage where any legislative initiative that displeases the Executive is frozen, and Parliament has become a legislative institution in the Executive’s pay, after once reflecting the social and economic aspirations of the people. And here we come across an absurd equation: the Head of State brandishes the slogan of satisfying the demands of the people, but has he not heard the protests against socio-economic conditions which have deteriorated to the point that most Tunisians curse the Revolution? Is it not a priority for him and his government to seriously reflect on the implementation of real plans, and not on slogans, in order to rescue Tunisians from poverty?”
Priority goes to the President
Law 014/2023 on the criminalization of normalizing ties with the Zionist entity has been outstanding since November 2, 2023, although it was presented during a plenary session and two articles of the text were approved. Justifying a postponed vote on the legislation, Assembly President Brahim Bouderbala evoked President Kais Saied’s reservations regarding the text proposed by deputies. He mentioned “negative consequences” on Tunisia’s interests and external security.
Rejection of this law coincided with the height of enthusiasm in Tunisia for the Palestinian cause, one month following operation “Al Aqsa Flood.” Cancelling the session in which the law was to be discussed constituted Parliament’s first setback, barely several months after its inauguration. And so President Saied’s flagrant meddling continued to permeate the work undertaken by Parliament. “It is obvious that the ARP bureau avoids passing initiatives which do not align with the vision of the current political system, assuming that there is one,” says Ali. He adds, “The President of the Assembly’s attitude, which is ambiguous to say the least, in addition to general confusion, is at the origin of the blockage of initiatives which go against the Executive’s orientations. The brutal suspension of the debate on the infamous law criminalizing normalization is an edifying example.”
Postponing the vote on this law was not Parliament’s only blunder. One year later, the ARP approved a revision of the electoral law, effectively transferring the examination of electoral disputes from the Administrative Court to the judicial authority following intense conflict between the Independent High Authority for Elections (which was setting the stage for Kais Saied) and the Administrative Court. Deputy Mohamed Ali characterizes the approval of a revised electoral law just a few days before elections as “scandalous.” Especially since the initiative, presented by a group of deputies, was adopted in record time, while 60 previous initiatives regarding reforms in a number of other areas and also proposed by deputies were never scheduled for examination. Mohamed Ali adds:
The initiative to reform Decree 54, for which 60 deputies signed an urgent request, remained for nearly a year at the ARP bureau without being sent for debate to the commissions and then on to a plenary session. I learned that this initiative will be subject to discussion within the Parliamentary Academy which has become a filtration mechanism for legislative initiatives that risk upsetting the government. Draft laws which are not to the Assembly’s taste are thus presented before the Academy for discussion, in the presence of one single party—the Executive, in order to turn deputies against the initiative. This is how the Academy has become a place of lobbying.
A statement by the ARP bureau made public on February 13 reveals this subservience to the executive power. According to the text, deputies are “firmly convinced by the State’s choice to defend its national sovereignty,” and “support the executive authority in all efforts to contribute to reform.” Moreover, the statement accuses hidden parties from undertaking “repeated and relentless attacks in order to challenge the legitimacy of the building process of the new Tunisia and the pertinence of adopted choices.”
Admittedly, the current Parliament is no different from its predecessors. Deputy Fatma Mseddi, who has managed to keep her seat since 2014, has been mocked on numerous occasions. The last time was in response to her proposal to stem the drain of skilled persons from the country by imposing a payment of 50% of their education costs to the Tunisian government should these persons choose to emigrate, and also for her proposal regarding the “forcible or voluntary” expulsion of undocumented migrants, without being very aware of international conventions in relation to the issue. Mseddi’s proposals are not the only ones to inspire sarcasm among Tunisians, who had a good laugh at an article under this year’s finance law known as the “torchi [a pickled condiment] article.” The latter, proposed by a deputy who owns a company which imports condiments, concerns the reduction of customs duties to the benefit of the importers of these products.
History will perhaps remember that a few deputies within Kais Saied’s Parliament attempted to oppose the Assembly’s transformation into a sounding board for the presidency, and endured strong pressure from the presidency of the ARP as well as from other deputies who toady to the President. However, history will certainly not fail to recall the political context which landed them in Bardo following elections marked by an unprecedented level of abstention, and to remember their commendable and vain attempts to pass a few initiatives amidst the brouhaha of the current regime’s zealots.
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