President Said refuted his allegations of launching a coup, and two lawmakers were arrested on Friday.

The President of Tunisia said he will not become a dictator because he arrested two members of Congress on Friday after he decided to remove immunity when he seized control of the government this week.

Tunisia’s President Keith Said removed the prime minister on Sunday and suspended the parliament for 30 days, leading the major parties to accuse him of launching a coup, and Tunisia fell into a political crisis.

Said has yet to take measures that critics believe need to reassure Tunisians, including the appointment of an interim prime minister and a road map to end emergency measures.

The presidential palace quoted the former law professor as saying: “I know the texts of the constitution very well, respect them and teach them. After all, I will not become a dictator as some people say.”

On Sunday, Said lifted the immunity of members of parliament, making any case against them easy to arrest.

Concerns about the rights and freedoms of Tunisia, a democratic country since the revolution of 2011, rose on Friday, after a parliamentarian and influential blogger Yassin Ayari was arrested and declared suspected of people protesting against Operation Said during Monday’s demonstrations The violence is investigated.

The military justice agency stated that Ayari was imprisoned for a judicial ruling slandering the military issued three years ago.

Ayari has publicly opposed the military and government, and has faced legal issues in the past.

According to his lawyer, another MP, Mahzid of the conservative Muslim Kalama Party, was detained late Friday.

In 2018, he was sentenced to two years in prison for offending others on social media and insulting the then president.

On Monday, the moderate Islamic Baath Party, the largest party in the parliament, sat outside the parliament after being surrounded by the army.

Hundreds of Ennahdha and Said supporters confronted each other, and some threw stones and bottles.

The judiciary stated that it has begun investigating four people associated with Ennahdha who “attempted to commit violent acts” during the protest, including one member of the party committee and two members connected to its leader.

Ennahdha has been a key participant in Tunisian legislative elections since the Tunisian Revolution in 2011 triggered the Arab Spring uprising throughout the region.

Said’s move to seize administrative control seems to have received widespread popular support in Tunisia. Due to the fatal surge in COVID-19 cases, poor governance, corruption, political paralysis and economic stagnation have increased over the years this year.