President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Biden,
Six months ago, President Kais Saied ordered the Tunisian army to shut down the parliament in a blatant disregard for the constitution and rule of law in Tunisia. Unfortunately, the Tunisian army decided to “obey” this order and closed the parliament with military tanks and soldiers. Since then, President Kais Saied has been dismantling the constitutional and legal framework that has been established since 2011.
Today, the US must stand in support of democracy and democratic institutions in the only successful democratic transition in the Arab World, by clearly denouncing and not supporting this coup against democracy. President Kais Saied wants to write a new constitution, do away with multi-party representative democracy, and replace it with a new system that he calls “direct democracy”, which nobody understands, but resembles only the old (totally undemocratic) regime of Ghaddafi in Libya, which also claimed to represent “the will of the people”.
Please read the two attached OPEN LETTERS to President Biden and to the Members of Congress. We urge you to support democracy by making any future assistance (whether economic or military) and any future loans by the IMF (where the US has veto power) contingent and conditional upon:
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Reopening the parliament, immediately,
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Stopping the use of military courts against civilians, and the involvement of the army in politics.
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Organizing free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections in 3 months (90 days, not in 12 months) under the supervision of the independent High Council for Elections (ISIE), and not by a new committee appointed by Kais Saied.
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Organizing a NATIONAL DIALOGUE, including all political parties, to discuss and approve future recommendations for economic, political, and social reforms.
Any economic or military assistance or loans to the regime of Kais Saied, without these conditions, will in fact be tantamount to supporting dictators and dictatorships in Tunisia and the wider MENA region.
Thank you, and I remain at your disposal if you have any questions, or would like to further discuss these recommendations.
Sincerely;
Dr. Radwan A. Masmoudi
President of CSID
VIEW LETTER 1
VIEW LETTER 2
President Joseph R. Biden
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to you to express our deep concern regarding recent developments in Tunisia and the
threat they pose to its democratic institutions and stability. It is imperative that we take a firm stance in
support of democracy in Tunisia just as we have done recently for Sudan. Tunisia is where the Arab
Spring’s call for democratic reform began and where it has survived for the past 10 years. Even as the
promise of change continues to elude other Arab countries, Tunisia was on the right track and had made
commendable progress since the ouster of its last authoritarian regime in 2011.
On 25 July, Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed the government, suspended the parliament, lifted
the immunity of members of parliament, and appointed himself as the sole-head of government and
chief prosecutor. Saied later installed a prime minister atop a newly formed government on September
29, but without the constitutionally required approval of the parliament. On Sept. 22, he announced the
“indefinite” suspension of the parliament and of the constitution, and that he will be ruling by “decree”
and that his “decrees” are over and above the law and the constitution of Tunisia. Saied has used the
military to close the parliament and intimidate, and at times, try activists, journalists, bloggers, and even
members of parliament. Three radio and television stations have been shut down and on November 5,
the justice ministry issued an international arrest warrant against former President Moncef Marzouki for
daring to criticize Saied’s unconstitutional power grab.
We are aware that our diplomats have been engaged in an effort to convince Saied to respect Tunisia’s
democratic institutions and allow parliament to resume its activities. It appears those efforts have not
worked and on December 12, 2021, Saied announced that he will appoint a committee to rewrite the
constitution and change the electoral law in order to influence the outcomes of future parliamentary
elections to be held a year from now. It is our belief that this “wait and see” approach is signaling to
Saied, and to the international community, that the United States will learn to live with the new reality
that Saied has created.
This is why we need to make clear our commitment to Tunisian democracy and to the values of freedom
and democracy that so many Tunisians worked hard to uphold. Although Saied is claiming popular
support for his actions, there have been mass protests against his seizure of absolute power. This is a
recipe for political instability and potentially for violence.
Tunisia is suffering from chronic unemployment and a slow economy, which the COVID-19 pandemic
has worsened. There is an opportunity to leverage current U.S. assistance to more credibly convince
Saied and his allies to change course. We should immediately announce that all economic and military
assistance to Tunisia will be conditional upon reopening the parliament and organizing new presidential
and parliamentary elections, in accordance with the constitution. Any attempts to change the constitution
or the electoral law must be the result of an inclusive national dialogue and approved by the elected
parliament.
We should also call on the Tunisian military to end its support for Saied’s power grab and
suspend using military courts against civilians. Moreover, we should more seriously engage our
European allies and key Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to ensure that they
do not undertake destabilizing actions that undermine Tunisia’s return to democratic governance.
The United States should prioritize leveraging its economic support for Tunisia at this critical moment in
order to preserve Tunisia’s decade-old democratic gains. Our most important and urgent policy
recommendation is to make all future appropriations and aid contingent on the Tunisian government
taking the following steps:
1. Restoring the current parliament: Restore the current parliament, which was democratically
elected in 2019 and unilaterally suspended by President Saied on July 25. This is a necessary pre-
requisite to making any future changes to the constitution and/or to the electoral law.
2. End politicization of the military: The Tunisian military should immediately cease political
activities against civilians. The military has been complicit in President Saied’s unconstitutional power
grab, including closing down the parliament, trying civilians in military courts, and jailing members of
parliament.
3. Stop the crackdown on media and dissent: Release all political prisoners, journalists, politicians,
members of parliament, and civic activists. Television and radio stations that have been shut down
(Hannibal, Nessma and Zitouna TV) should be allowed to operate freely.
4. Start an inclusive national dialogue: Convene a national dialogue that includes all major political
parties and major civil society organizations to resolve disagreements and determine what changes to the
electoral code or to the constitution are needed.
5. Call for early free and fair elections: Hold internationally supervised free and fair elections as soon
as possible in order to restore the trust of the Tunisian people. This can be easily done within the next
3-4 months.
These recommendations may be unable to get Saied to do the right thing. But in similar circumstances
elsewhere in recent decades, U.S.-led diplomatic engagement and conditionality have succeeded in
reversing interruptions of democracy. A combination of domestic and international pressure might
persuade President Saied to abandon his destructive course and implement a quick and peaceful return
to democracy and respecting the constitution, immediately and not in a year from now.
Once democracy is restored and the parliament re-opened, the U.S. should increase its economic support
to Tunisia, and should encourage all political parties and civil society organizations to work together to
strengthen the democratic institutions, starting with setting up the constitutional court, and to implement
the much-needed reforms to stimulate the economy, create jobs, and fight corruption. In short, the U.S.
should help the nascent democracy in Tunisia deliver a better life for all Tunisians.
We look forward to your response and we are ready to work with you on this important endeavor.
Sincerely,
Radwan A. Masmoudi
President
Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy
John L Esposito
University Professor & Founding Director
Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
Georgetown University
Khalil E. Jahshan
Executive Director
Arab Center Washington DC
Mohamed Soltan
President
The Freedom Initiative
Larry Diamond
Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
Stanford University
William Zartman
Professor Emeritus at the Paul H. Nitze School of
Advanced International Studies
Johns Hopkins University
Clement M. Henry
Professor Emeritus of Government and Middle
East Studies
The University of Texas at Austin
Shadi Hamid
Senior Fellow
Brookings Institution
Nader Hashemi
Director of the Center for Middle East Studies
University of Denver
Nihad Awad
Executive Director
Council on American Islamic Relations
Wa’el Alzayat
CEO, Emgage and former senior advisor to
Ambassador Samantha Power
Khaled Saffuri
Executive Director
National Interest Foundation
Esam Omeish
President
Libyan American Alliance
Radwan Ziadeh
Senior Fellow
Middle East Arab Center, Washington D.C
Stephen Grand
Executive Director
Network for Dialogue
Charles E. Butterworth
Emeritus Professor
Department of Government & Politics
University of Maryland
John P. Entelis
Professor of Political Science
Fordham University
Hussam Ayloush
CEO, Council on American-Islamic Relations,
California (CAIR-CA)
John Hursh
Program Director
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
Coast to Coast Strategies, LLC
Washington DC
Najib Ghadbian, Ph.D.
University of Arkansas
Khalil Alanani
Senior Fellow
Arab Center Washington DC
cc: The Honorable Antony Blinken
Secretary of State
cc: All members of Congress.
P.S. For more information or to follow up on this letter, please contact:
Radwan A. Masmoudi, Ph.D.
President
Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID)
1800 K Street, NW, Suite 1124
Washington, DC 20006
Tel. 202-304-2940
radwanmasmoudi@gmail.com
www.csid-online.org
