Tunisia’s foreign ministry summons US envoy

In this photo provided by the Tunisian Presidency, Tunisian President Kais Saied casts his vote on a new constitution at a polling station in Tunis, Tunisia, Monday, July 25, 2022. (SLIM ABID / TUNISIAN PRESIDENCY VIA AP)

Tunisia's foreign ministry said on Friday it summoned an official from the US embassy after Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concerns about Tunisia's democracy.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concerns about Tunisia's democracy on Thursday after President Kais Saied introduced a new constitution giving himself far more powers, but the broad reaction among Western democracies was muted

Tunisia's Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi told US acting chargé d'affaires Natasha Franceschi that the statement represented an unacceptable "interference in the national internal affairs", the ministry said in a statement.

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Blinken expressed concerns about Tunisia's democracy on Thursday after President Kais Saied introduced a new constitution giving himself far more powers, but the broad reaction among Western democracies was muted.

"Tunisia has experienced an alarming erosion of democratic norms over the past year and reversed many of the Tunisian people's hard-won gains since 2011," Blinken said then, referring to the 2011 revolution that introduced democracy.

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The new constitution was endorsed in a referendum the president held on Monday, a year after Saied moved to shut down the elected parliament and start ruling by decree.