Thousands of Tunisians have taken to the streets to protest the president's sweeping powers over the judiciary

  

On Sunday, tens of thousands of Tunisians protested after President Kais Saied replaced the judicial watchdog and gave himself the power to sack judges and ban them from going on strike.

 

More than 2,000 protestors gathered in central Tunis hours after the decree was issued early Sunday morning, many waving flags and singing slogans in support of an independent judiciary.

 

"Liberation! Liberation! The police state has come to an end "Some people started chanting.

 

Saied's directive came a week after he announced that the High Judicial Council (CSM) would be dissolved, provoking a statewide court shutdown by judges who claimed that the action would jeopardise judicial independence.

 

The president also has the ability to dismiss "any judge failing to execute his professional obligations," according to the order, it establishes a new 21-member "Temporary Supreme Judicial Council" with nine members selected by him.

 

It further said that "it is unlawful for judges of all ranks to go on strike or engage in any organised collective action that could disrupt or delay the normal functioning of the courts."

 

Last July, Saied deposed the government, halted parliament, and seized a slew of powers before declaring martial law, raising concerns about what had been seen as the Arab Spring's sole democracy.

 

Saied has long accused the CSM of obstructing politically sensitive investigations and being swayed by his arch-rival, the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party.

 

He has stated that he has no intention of interfering with the judiciary, but human rights organizations and world powers have slammed his decision.

The decree "consolidates authority in the hands of the President/executive and completely removes any appearance of judicial independence" in Tunisia, according to the International Commission of Jurists.

 

"It takes Tunisia back to its darkest days," the commission concluded, "when judges were transferred and dismissed on the basis of governmental whim."

 

The CSM issued a statement on Thursday saying that it "completely condemns the use of decrees to encroach on the constitutional structure of the judiciary" and that any alternative would be unconstitutional.

 

Many Tunisians supported Saied's power grab in July because they were tired of political parties that were perceived as corrupt and self-serving, but his critics accuse him of returning the country to authoritarianism.