The former national security adviser appointed a new Minister of the Interior a few days after President Said fired the prime minister and suspended Parliament.

Tunisian President Keith Said has appointed a former president’s national security adviser to manage the Ministry of the Interior and has pledged to protect rights and freedoms.

The Presidential Palace announced the nomination of Ridha Garsalaoui on Thursday, and Said has stated that the North African country faces “imminent danger” and is facing increasing international and domestic pressure to form a new government.

According to local media reports, the newly appointed person is also a senior former police officer.

On Sunday, the president invoked a national emergency to seize control of the government, fired the prime minister and froze the parliament.

Said said: “The country is not a puppet driven by a rope. Lobbyists and corrupt elements have been pulling the rope behind the scenes.” “The conditions of this historical moment have forced me to take such special measures.

“I tell you and the world, I am passionate about enforcing the text of the constitution, and am more passionate about rights and freedom than they are.

“No one was arrested. No one was deprived of his rights, but the law was fully applied.”

Tunisians are waiting for the appointment of a new prime minister and the announcement of a road map to find a way out of the crisis.

Supporters of Said see his intervention as a welcome reset of the 2011 revolution. After years of economic stagnation in a political class, this political class often seems to be more interested in its own narrow advantages than in national interests. .

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken said on Thursday that he has urged Said to take action to bring the country “back to the path of democracy” and urged the restoration of Parliament.

“The intention he expressed to me is to return Tunisia to a democratic path and act in a constitutional manner,” Blink and say In an interview with Al Jazeera, it was referring to the conversation with Said earlier this week.

“But of course, we have to look at the actions taken by the president, the actions taken by Tunisia,” he said.

Young democracies are often cited as the only success story of the Arab Spring.

But 10 years later, many people said that their living standards have hardly improved and are angry at the prolonged political deadlock caused by the increasing number of COVID-19 infections and the infighting among the elites.

Said accused 460 businessmen of owing the country 13.5 billion Tunisian dinars ($4.9 billion), citing the findings of the Corruption Investigation Commission led by former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

“The money must be returned to the Tunisian people,” he said, adding that he intends to provide “judicial arbitration” to businessmen.

Said also asked traders and wholesalers to “lower prices” in an economy hit by the crisis, and soaring inflation eroded the purchasing power of consumers.

He also called for the restoration of phosphate production, which is one of the country’s few natural resources.

Many Tunisians who are struggling to make ends meet and are tired of the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic welcome the seizure of power.

On Wednesday night, the President also announced the establishment of a crisis department to manage the surge in COVID-19 cases.

With a population of approximately 12 million, Tunisia is one of the countries with the most severe COVID-19 mortality rate in the world, with 19,000 deaths related to the coronavirus.