Tunisia’s President Kais Saied appeared in a video released Monday on his official Facebook page, dismissing “crazy” claims about his health after nearly two weeks of no public appearances.
The biggest opposition alliance in the North African country had already pressured the government to explain Saied’s public “absence,” claiming to have received information that he was ill.
“These people deserve nothing but contempt,” Saied said in the video, referring to his political rivals.
“The president is absent for two or three days, he gets a cold and that becomes a problem, a power vacuum?”
According to posts on Facebook, Saied, 65, had not been in public or conducted any meetings since March 22, according to the presidency’s only formal line of contact.
The lack of words or videos has fueled speculation about Saied’s health.
Speaking alongside Prime Minister Najla Bouden, the president described the reports as “a degree of craziness never seen in Tunisia before.”
Earlier on Monday, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi of the National Salvation Front opposition coalition told journalists: “We ask the government to address the Tunisian people and say if the president has health problems that have forced him to be absent.”
Chebbi stated that while Bouden would manage Tunisia in the event of a temporary power vacuum, a permanent vacancy would result in a “big calamity” due to a legislative blank.
In his video, Saied accused unnamed individuals of “attempting to create crises” by mentioning a power vacuum.
“These people have lost the plot, they’re obsessed with power,” he said.
Saied, who orchestrated a stunning power grab in July 2021 and has since ruled by decree, rushed through a constitution last year that gave his office unprecedented powers and rendered parliament ineffective.
Since February, security agents have detained around 20 public people, including top opposition politicians.
Members of the once-powerful Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party and political activists, as well as lawyers, merchants, and the leader of a popular radio station known for airing criticism of the government, are among those targeted.
Saied has openly accused them of plotting against the state and referred to them as “terrorists.”
