'The end of tyranny is not far away', speaker of Tunisia's dissolved parliament Ghannouchi says

The speaker of Tunisia’s dissolved parliament said on Sunday that his party and its allies are working to end 'tyranny' in the country, referencing President Kais Saied's rule over Tunisia in which he has given himself sweeping powers and forged ahead with controversial plans to replace the constitution. 

Rached Ghannouchi, a senior leader in the Ennahda party and the speaker of the parliament said at a press conference on Sunday that “The end of tyranny is not far away,” according to Al Jazeera. 

He added that his party and its allies would continue to fight against Saied’s government to roll back the ‘coup’.

Tunisia has been mired in a political crisis since Saied gave himself wide-ranging powers last year in what his opponent have called a power grab and a coup. 

Last July, Saied dismissed the government and later dissolved the country’s parliament, sparking fears that Tunisia was on its way back to a dictatorship a decade after the beginning of the Arab Spring. 

Saied has also seized control of the judiciary and sacked 57 judges on Thursday on charges of corruption. 

Tunisians have protested against the Saied’s government for the past few months. Last Saturday, protestors demonstrated against a referendum on the replacement for the constitution that was drawn up in 2014. 

The new constitution is set to be put to a public vote in July.