InsiderBLM Africa
The new parliament of Tunisia convened for the first time on Monday, but neither local journalists employed by private media outlets nor their foreign counterparts were permitted to attend.
The event was covered exclusively by state radio, television, and news organizations, and it was broadcast live on public television.
The independent media were prohibited from attending the opening session of parliament for the first time since the 2011 uprising.
Amira Mohamed, Vice-President of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists, said, “This is a new attempt to keep people in the dark. It is an attack on freedom of the press, the right to access information, and the freedom of journalists to do their jobs.”
Many independent Tunisian journalists express growing concern over what they perceive to be a decline in press freedom in the nation.
They demonstrated last year in opposition to what they perceived as an increase in media repression and intimidation since President Kais Saied’s coup in 2021.
Tunisia dropped 21 places, from 73rd to 94th, in the Reporters Without Borders 2022 Press Freedom Index.
The new parliament was elected after a vote with a turnout of just 11%, and the opposition coalition declared it would not recognize its legitimacy.
It will run under a new constitution that Saied pushed through a referendum on in July 2022, a year after he took control by suspending the previous assembly, then dissolving it and ousting the administration.
