Addis Ababa, July 28, 2020 (Walta) – The African Union (AU) has joined the European Union and the US in calling for dialogue and calm in Tunisia after the president suspended parliament and sacked government officials.
The union urged Tunisia to respect its constitution and reject violence.
AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat had a phone conversation with Tunisia’s foreign minister in which he reiterated the need for the government to respond to the aspirations of its people, the AU said in a statement.
A spokesperson of the EU Commission urged all actors to respect Tunisia’s constitution and called for calm.
The US state department spokesperson Ned Price urged Tunisia not to “squander its democratic gains” and to “avoid taking any actions that could stifle democratic discourse or lead to violence”.
Tunisia’s foreign minister reassured his French, Turkish, Italian, and German counterparts in a phone call that the actions taken by the president were temporary.
Tunisia’s biggest political party, Ennahda, urged its supporters not to demonstrate and called for dialogue saying that it didn’t want to escalate the situation, according to BBC.