Kais Saied (centre) leads a security meeting with members of the army and police forces in Tunis on Sunday. AP

Gulf Today Report

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Monday imposed night curfew throughout the country and suspended work in government offices for a period of two days, starting from Tuesday with the possibility of extending the period of suspension of work.

A statement issued by the Presidency of the Republic reads “ curfew enters into force from today (Monday) July 26 until Aug. 27, 2021, with the exception of emergency services with the possibility of amending this period by a presidential decision.”

During the curfew the the movement of people and vehicles will be prohibited from 7:00pm until 6:00am.

Action came after Kais Saied suspended the parliament's work and relieved the prime minister of his duties.

A number of employees at the Government Palace in the Kasbah in Tunis said that the army deployed in the building and prevented its employees from entering.

The statement further reads “it is prohibited for people and cars to move between cities outside the curfew times, except to fulfill their basic needs or for health emergencies, and every gathering of more than three people on the public road and in public squares is prohibited.”

It also obliges the administrative structures that provide administrative services on-line to ensure the continuity of those services, while enabling the direct head of each administrative structure to license some other administrative services or to perform some of their procedures remotely, especially through electronic correspondence.

The presidential order excluded “the internal security forces, the military, customs officials, workers in public health structures and institutions, and workers in institutions of education, childhood, training and higher education who are subject to special arrangements.”