Opposition bloc says parliamentary elections to deepen Tunisia's crisis

A main opposition bloc in Tunisia warned Thursday that this week's parliamentary elections will escalate the country's political crisis.

"The Dec. 17 polls will deepen the political crisis, and we will confront it until Tunisia returns to legitimacy and democracy," Ahmed Najib Chebbi, head of the National Salvation Front, told a press conference in the capital Tunis.

Chebbi said his opposition bloc will continue the "peaceful struggle" to topple what he described as a "coup" by the country's President Kais Saied.

The National Salvation Front consists of five parties -- Ennahda Movement, Heart of Tunisia Party, the Dignity Coalition, the Movement Party and Al-Amal Party.

The Dec. 17 vote is the last step in a series of exceptional measures taken by Saied, which started in July 2021 with ousting the government, dissolving parliament and drafting a new constitution.

While Saied insists that his measures were meant to "save" the country, critics have accused him of orchestrating a coup.