Tunisia president decrees he will name electoral chief

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Friday assigned himself the power to appoint the head of the electoral commission, further extending his power grab months ahead of critical polls.

Critics of Saied say he wants to create a tame electoral commission ahead of a referendum slated for July on constitutional reforms, and legislative elections due in December.

Saied, according to an official decree, will now have the power to name three of the seven members of the electoral commission, known by its acronym ISIE, including its president.

The former law professor, elected in 2019 amid public anger against the political class, sacked the government on July 25 last year.

He also froze parliament and seized wide-ranging powers, and later moved to rule by decree in moves opponents have dubbed a "coup".

The election commission, created in 2012, has currently nine members with its president appointed by parliament.

Saied dissolved parliament last month, dealing another blow to the political system in place since the North African country's 2011 revolt which sparked the Arab Spring.

ISIE's current president, Nabil Baffoun, is a critic of Saied and has warned that any change in the commission composition by presidential decree would be "unlawful".

Last month, Saied inaugurated a "temporary" council of judges to replace an independent watchdog he abolished as he seized sweeping powers over the judiciary.