Tunisia's Saied condemns "illegal" meetings of Parliament

Tunisian president Kais Saied has condemned attempts at holding what he described as "illegal" meetings of parliament suspended since last July.

The assembly's speaker, Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, has called for a plenary session on Wednesday to discuss Saied's "exceptional measures" imposed since July.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, the president accused those responsible from wanting to spread chaos.

"What happened today, the so-called 'virtual meeting' is illegal, because the Assembly and its bureau are frozen". (...) The State will only recover through an independent judiciary, opposed by those who try to undermine the State, and those who desperately try to stage a coup", accused Tunisian president, Kais Saied.

The decision to hold the plenary session was taken by the Bureau of the Assembly of People's Representatives, a body that includes the Speaker of Parliament and representatives of all parties with seats.

The Speaker did not specify how and where the session would be taking place.