A14 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, APRIL 1 , 2022
of omnipotence,” said Oussama
Khlifi, head of the parliamentary
bloc for the Heart of Tunisia party.
Some deputies have already
been s ummoned by an anti-terror-
ism branch of the security forces
to appear Friday in connection
with their participation in
Wednesday’s assembly, including
Rachid Ghannouchi, the speaker
of parliament and longtime head
of Ennahda.
Ghannouchi said the online
meeting was intended to prove
that the legislature is “still alive
and a ble t o play its role a fter s even
to eight months of obstruction”
and t hat “Tunisian democracy has
not failed.” He said the majority of
deputies have rejected Saied’s
power grab and remain commit-
ted to the separation of powers,
which Ghannouchi called a “fun-
damental p rinciple of democracy.”
“Instead of the president re-
specting the w ill of the representa-
tives of the people, he issued an
angry response by dissolving par-liament, which is an unjust and
arbitrary decision that has no ba-
sis in Tunisia’s constitution,”
Ghannouchi told The Post.
Ghannouchi said deputies
planned to protest the decision
peacefully and warned that it
would spook foreign donors and
investors at a time when Tunisia
badly needs funds to ameliorate a
major economic crisis.
Saied is pushing to rewrite the
constitution and hold the next
parliamentary elections in De-
cember. Now, though, some par-
ties are calling for fresh elections.
Western powers have criticized
Saied’s moves and raised worries
about democratic backsliding in
Tunisia. A group of House Demo-
crats sent a letter to Secretary of
State Antony Blinken on March 25
urging the Biden administration
to “consider Tunisia’s significant
democratic regression” as it as-
sesses aid for Tunisia and to re-
view any funding for the country’s
internal security forces.”BY KAREEM FAHIMistanbul — In a dramatic about-
face, a Turkish prosecutor re-
quested Thursday to move the tri-
al of suspects linked to the 2018
killing of journalist Jamal
Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, which
sent the operatives who carried
out the deadly assault, according
to local media and a person who
attended the hearing.
The prosecutor said t he request
to halt the Turkish trial followed a
Saudi transfer request earlier in
March, according to Erol Ondero-
glu, the Turkey representative for
Reporters Without Borders who
attended the hearing in a c riminal
court in Istanbul. The court re-
ferred the matter to Turkey’s Min-
istry of Justice, he said.
Facing economic woes, includ-
ing a weak currency and soaring
cost of living, Turkey h as sought t o
improve relations with Saudi Ara-
bia in recent months.
If the m inistry approves, “ it will
have terrible consequences for the
idea of justice,” Onderoglu said.
All the defendants are being tried
in absentia and are believed to be
in Saudi Arabia.
The prosecutor’s action repre-
sents a significant turnabout by
the government of Turkish Presi-
dent Recep Ta yyip Erdogan. In t he
days a nd months after t he murder,
Erdogan, who counted Khashoggi
as a friend, played a l eading r ole i nimplicating Saudi Arabia and its
Crown Prince M ohammed bin S al-
man in the killing.
Turkey released recordings,
surveillance footage and other
material that revealed a team of
Saudi operatives had traveled to
Istanbul and waited in the Saudi
Consulate for Khashoggi, w ho was
a contributing columnist for The
Washington Post. The operatives
then killed and dismembered h im.
His remains were never found.
Turkey’s release of evidence —
and Erdogan’s outspoken disgust
at the killing — spurred interna-
tional outrage at Saudi Arabia for
a time. Recently, as Turkey’s econ-
omy has struggled with inflation
topping 50 percent, Erdogan hassought better relations with the
kingdom as well as other coun-
tries in the Middle East.
The trial in Turkey was seen by
some as symbolic since the defen-
dants were absent. But the pro-
ceedings were held in public, with
witness testimonies, in sharp con-
trast to a trial that was carried out
behind closed doors in Saudi Ara-
bia, Onderoglu said.
But i n recent months, he added,
it was clear that Turkey was no
longer interested in pursuing the
case. The court had refused to
consider as evidence a U.S. intelli-
gence report that found the Saudi
crown prince had “approved” the
operation that led to Khashoggi’s
death.“The recent diplomatic rap-
prochement between Turkey and
Saudi Arabia has intensified our
doubt in the search for justice in
Turkey,” Onderoglu said, adding
that the “international communi-
ty” was also reluctant to pursue
accountability.
In court Thursday, prosecutors
noted the missing defendants and
said attempts to pursue them
through Interpol had been fruit-
less, Onderoglu said. Turkish offi-
cials have repeatedly denied that
the judiciary is susceptible to gov-
ernment pressure. The next hear-
ing is scheduled for April 7.
Saudi Arabia said in September
202 0 that it had convicted eight
people for the killing but did notname them. Saudi officials have
denied that the crown prince or-
dered Khashoggi’s murder.
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fi-
ancee, also attended the hearing
Thursday. In a message posted on
Twitter afterward, she wrote
about the decision facing Turkey’s
Justice Ministry “showing the di-
lemma facing humanity in the
modern era.”
“Which of the two will we
choose?” she wrote. “To want to
live like a virtuous human being or
to build a life by holding material
interests above all kinds of values.
#justiceforjamal.”Zeynep Karatas contributed to this
report.Turkish prosecutor asks to move Khashoggi murder trial to Saudi Arabia
BY CLAIRE PARKERTunisian President Kais Saied
has dissolved parliament by de-
cree, further consolidating his
control and escalating a political
crisis i n the North African country
once viewed as the Arab Spring’s
democratic success story.
Saied suspended the elected
chamber in July, when he
launched a power grab that posed
the most serious test of Tunisia’s
institutions since it transitioned
to democracy after the 2011 revo-
lution. The president’s announce-
ment Wednesday night that he
was dissolving parliament came
after more than half of its mem-
bers held an online session — t heir
first since the summer — and vot-
ed to repeal measures that Saied
used to seize power.
In a video address late Wednes-
day, Saied accused members of
parliament of attempting a failed
coup and conspiring against na-
tional security. H e ordered investi-
gations of deputies who had par-
ticipated in the online session.
Saied said his actions are “protect-
ing the people and the nation.”
The move answers a long-
standing demand of Tunisians
who turned out to protest across
the country last year, largely
against the unpopular parlia-
ment, which demonstrators
blamed for failing to address high
unemployment and falling living
standards. Eleven years after Tu-
nisia’s uprising toppled dictator
Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and set off
popular revolts across the Middle
East, segments of the Tunisian
public have soured on democracy
and directed anger at the moder-
ate Islamist party Ennahda, thelargest in parliament.
But S aied’s s teps to abrogate the
country’s institutions or place
them under his control have
raised alarms among democracy
and human rights advocates in
Tunisia and abroad — including
the United States. Saied has also
replaced a body meant to ensure
judicial independence, and jour-
nalists and critics continue to be
arrested as press organizations
warn that freedom of speech is
under attack.
The dissolution of parliament
virtually cements Saied’s o ne-man
rule, Tunisian political analyst Se-
lim Kharrat said.
“We are no longer able to talk
about Tunisian democracy. All the
bases of democracy are under the
control of Saied, of only one per-
son,” he said, calling the situation
“very dangerous.”Members of parliament w ho at-
tended the o nline session that pre-
cipitated Saied’s announcement
accused the government of trying
to censor it by disabling telecon-
ferencing applications. Malfunc-
tions of Zoom and Teams delayed
Wednesday’s meeting. The minis-
ter in charge of communications
technology denied government
interference, Reuters reported.
Saied, a former constitutional
law professor, said Tunisia’s 2014
constitution — which he has
launched a process to amend —
gives him the authority to take
such actions as dissolving parlia-
ment. B ut critics a nd p olitical a na-
lysts pointed to a provision that
explicitly says the president can-
not dissolve the assembly.
“With this action, he confirmed
a constitutional coup and the re-
turn to an anti-democratic regimeCrisis builds as Tunisian leader voids parliament
BY SUSANNAH GEORGE
AND SHAIQ HUSSAINislamabad, pakistan — Paki-
stani Prime Minister Imran Khan
on Thursday accused his oppo-
nents of “treason” and taking part
in a foreign conspiracy to topple
his elected government, just days
ahead of a no-confidence vote in
Parliament that appears increas-
ingly likely to succeed.
“I will fight you and stand in
front of you. This is like treason
against the nation. I will not sit
silent,” Khan said in a speech to
the nation from the prime minis-
ter’s residence, referring to the
opposition.
Pledging not to resign, he said,
“I will fight till the last ball, and as
long as I have one last drop of
blood in my body.” The cricketer
turned politician has held power
for nearly four years and is up for
reelection in 2023.
After months of slowly peeling
away votes from Khan’s base, op-
position leadership said Wednes-
day that it had the ballots needed
to unseat him. Khan’s opponents
have been fueled by growing frus-
tration over an economy crippled
by unemployment, soaring infla-
tion and rising taxes.
The challenge to Khan’s power
began to gain traction last year
amid friction between his party
and the military establishment
and comes amid expanding mili-
tancy after the Ta liban’s takeover
of neighboring A fghanistan in Au-
gust. In t he short term, a change in
Pakistan’s political leadership is
likely to further destabilize the
economy and raise questions
about the future of the country’s
delicate relationship with allies
often at odds, such as the United
States, China and Russia.
If the n o-confidence vote is held
and is s uccessful, it will b e the first
time Parliament has removed a
Pakistani prime minister from
power. Previous prime ministers
have been assassinated, over-
thrown by the military, forced out
by the courts on charges such as
corruption or died in office. No
prime minister in Pakistan’s his-
tory has completed the full five-
year term.
The no-confidence measure is
likely to succeed by roughly a doz-
en votes cobbled together at the
last moment. Seven lawmakers
who previously supported Khan
switched sides Wednesday. Oppo-sition leaders require a simple ma-
jority o f 172 for the v ote to succeed.
The leader of the main opposi-
tion p arty b ehind the effort to oust
Khan, Shehbaz Sharif, said the
parliamentary speaker’s decision
not to begin the vote proceedings
Thursday violated institutional
norms and the constitution, but
he pledged his supporters would
act lawfully regardless.“I want to tell the speaker and
the government — if they want to
use force to delay t he vote, t hey are
violating the constitution,” Sharif
said.
The speaker’s decision sparked
a shouting match in Parliament.
Khan’s supporters yelled “turn-
coats” across the room, referring
to politicians who have thrown
their support behind the opposi-tion in recent days, while opposi-
tion leaders chanted, “Vote, vote,
vote!”
Sharif is the younger brother of
former prime minister Nawaz
Sharif, who was ousted from pow-
er on corruption charges in 2017
and has since moved to London
for medical treatment despite an
ongoing case against him in Paki-
stan and calls for him to return
and appear in court.
Opposition to Khan began to
snowball last year when a rift
formed between the prime minis-
ter and the powerful military over
the replacement of the country’s
top intelligence official.
Pakistan’s security forces are
considered the country’s most
powerful institution, and their
support is seen as key to the suc-
cess of the political leadership.
Despite numerous threats to
Khan’s power in recent years, his
strong relationship with the mili-
tary kept him largely insulated
from attacks.
Khan won the 2018 general
election on a populist platform,
pledging to battle corruption, re-
form t he judicial s ystem a nd erad-
icate poverty.
However, critics say his govern-ment is riddled with the same
corruption that he pledged to
eliminate. And they accuse some
of his key ministers of mishan-
dling the economy b y raising t axes
in an effort to secure foreign loans
to keep the government afloat.
Poverty i n Pakistan has risen since
Khan took office.
If voted out, Khan will remain
prime minister until Parliament
chooses his replacement. It is un-
clear how long the replacement
process could t ake. His most likely
successor is Shehbaz Sharif. Two
other Pakistani prime ministers
have faced votes of no confidence.
Benazir Bhutto in 1989 and Shau-
kat Aziz in 200 6 also were chal-
lenged by opposition lawmakers,
but neither vote was successful.
Khan has several tools to delay
the vote in an effort to broker a
compromise that would keep him
in power, the most dramatic of
which would be the dismissal of
the head of Pakistan’s military.
But such a move would prob-
ably p lunge the country into c risis
and further jeopardize Khan’s po-
sition. In t he past, the dismissal of
the military chief resulted in
coups that placed the security
forces in power for years.Pakistani premier defiant as support for ouster builds
GHULAM RASOOL/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, third from left, faces a vote
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