Tunisian crisis escalates as president dissolves parliament

A man holds Tunisian national flags during a protest against Tunisian President Kais Saied's seizure of governing powers, in Tunis, Tunisia March 20, 2022. [Reuters]

Tunisian President Kais Saied late on Wednesday issued a decree dissolving parliament, which has been suspended since last year, after it defied him by voting to repeal decrees that he used to assume near-total power.

Speaking after an online session of more than half the parliament members, their first since he suspended the chamber in July, Saied accused them of a failed coup and a conspiracy against state security and ordered investigations into them.