Nearly three years ago, in July 2021, Tunisian President Kais Saied suspended parliament, dismissed the prime minister, and began ruling by presidential decree in what many observers called a “self-coup.” Since then, President Saied has consolidated power, rewritten the constitution to grant himself vast new authority, and delayed elections with no clear timeline for restoring democratic rule. This concerning authoritarian backslide in Tunisia, the lone success story to emerge from the Arab Spring, threatens the hard-won gains of Tunisia’s 2011 Jasmine Revolution.

Critically, President Saied has until July 25, 2024 to schedule the next presidential election, the constitutional deadline. It is imperative that he upholds the rule of law and respects the international order that expects Tunisia to hold this election by this legally mandated date. Tunisians have had two fair and transparent presidential elections in the past decade – this upcoming vote will be the third and must proceed as required.

President Saied claims his power grab was necessary to root out corruption and solve Tunisia’s many challenges. In reality, his increasingly oppressive rule has only exacerbated the country’s problems. The economy is on the brink of collapse with soaring inflation and unemployment. Foreign currency reserves are critically low, and the government is seeking an urgent IMF bailout. Meanwhile, crackdowns on political opponents, anti-corruption activists, journalists, judges, and business leaders have stifled dissent and spooked investors. Far from resolving Tunisia’s crises, President Saied’s authoritarianism only worsens them.

Even more alarming are President Saied’s recent moves toward communist ideology and alliances with China, Russia, and Iran. He has officially sided with China on Taiwan, lifted visa requirements for Iranians, and visited Iran to strengthen ties. By cozying up to these authoritarian regimes, President Saied is not only threatening Tunisia’s relationships with Western partners but also risking disruption on NATO’s southern flank. His actions could allow Tunisia to be weaponized against the West and undermine the region’s delicate agenda of peace and security.

This is a far cry from the Saied that Tunisians thought they were electing. While he came to power transparently through the ballot box, he has since pulled a “bait and switch” by morphing from a regular guy into a communist hardliner. His erratic behavior raises risks of expropriating international assets, unhooking Tunisia from its commitments to the rule of law and international norms, and setting the country on a collision course with the West and its own democratic principles.

Saied’s authoritarian pivot is a betrayal of the 2011 Jasmine Revolution that ended 23 years of dictatorship and ushered in a new era of democracy and hope. Tunisians fought hard for the right to choose their president freely, criticize their government without fear, and build an open society. While imperfect, its progressive constitution enshrined democratic freedoms and gave Tunisians a real voice in their country’s future for the first time.

Now, all that progress hangs in the balance. The 2022 constitution rammed through by President Saied guts checks and balances, erodes judicial independence, and makes him virtually impossible to remove from office. By ruling unilaterally and delaying elections, he deprives Tunisians of their fundamental right to choose their leaders democratically. 

To salvage Tunisia’s democracy, President Saied must reverse course immediately. He must urgently schedule the presidential election by the constitutional deadline of July 25, 2024. He should lift the state of emergency, restore judicial independence, free political prisoners, and allow civil society, activists, and opposition parties to operate without persecution.

Some may argue that democracy is too risky if it could result in a worse leader than President Saied. But this fear is misplaced. Tunisians have consistently rejected radicalism before and will do so again. The low turnout in Saied’s constitutional referendum, his plummeting approval ratings, and public dissatisfaction all show he lacks a true mandate. As an incumbent, he is in the minority and would struggle to win a free and fair election.

Tunisia’s vibrant political scene also offers hope, with several major parties led by trailblazing women. A democratic transition could elevate Tunisia’s first female president – an inspiring milestone for women’s leadership in the region. This potential for groundbreaking progress is yet another reason the presidential election must proceed as constitutionally required.

Only by relinquishing his exceptional powers and returning Tunisia to democratic rule can President Saied put the country back on track. Continued dictatorship will only exacerbate Tunisia’s challenges and make them harder to resolve. The only path forward is letting the Tunisian people freely choose their president again.

For the sake of democracy, the rule of law, and Tunisia’s future, President Saied must adhere to the election deadline of July 25, 2024. He should step back from his authoritarian overreach, recommit to Tunisia’s pro-Western orientation, and uphold the democratic principles at the heart of the Arab Spring’s most promising success story. Backsliding is not an option. The world is watching, and Tunisia’s courageous fight for freedom is too precious to abandon now when it matters most. President Saied must do the right thing and give Tunisians back their hard-won right to choose their own destiny.

Eli M. Gold is the President of the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington, DC-based think tank focusing on foreign policy and defense matters. To learn more about the Gold Institute, visit www.Goldiis.org.

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(This article was written by Shea Bradley-Farrell and appeared in Human Events. SHEA BRADLEY-FARRELL: Biden’s failed policies have turned America’s border into a warzone)

“I don’t know how to (explain) the emotional toll … until you smell a dead body, until you come across some of the most horrific scenes (of rape, murder, brutalization) that you’ll ever see, until you see true pain and traumatic breakdown in people that don’t deserve the situations they’re in, until you’ve had to protect your family and experienced the fear and panic of something actually happening to your own kids … people just won’t understand.”

Alison Anderson’s words could describe a war zone in a land far away– maybe a scene from the brutal Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. But Alison’s words describe events in our own backyard, a war-like zone at the U.S. southern border that most Americans will never experience.

“We’ve had just about every experience you can imagine,” Alison tells me in an interview. Alison, the wife of a U.S. Border Patrol agent of 16 years, has lived with her family on the Texas-Mexico border for almost a decade, first on a ranch near Big Bend National Park and then in Del Rio.

During the past few years, Alison has been chased by an illegal alien on the ranch and defended her small children multiple times from illegal aliens trying to break into her house. “It turned out two of those guys had violent criminal histories,” she says. “And one had prior felony charges of home invasion, residential theft, armed robbery.”

Alison has witnessed women and children abandoned by the cartels, beaten, and raped. She has seen dead bodies on her property–illegal aliens who succumbed to heat and terrain or who were murdered by coyotes or traveling companions. “There are properties in Quemado (Texas)… that see hundreds a day coming through their farms, destroying their crops, disrupting their lives, and threatening their families,” she says.

Out of the ten million illegal aliens encountered by Border Patrol since President Joe Biden took office, Texas has been burdened with almost half at 4.9 million . Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith estimates Border Patrol only catches about 20% of illegal crossers –the rest are “gottaways.” Statistics recently reveal that 1.6 million known gottaways were recorded under Biden’s administration so far, more than in both the Trump and Obama administrations combined.

Illegal aliens cross the Rio Grande River near the ranch where Alison’s family lived, then traverse rugged terrain, canyons, and ravines, following trails to Highway 90 to “load out” in cars to be taken into the interior of the U.S. But on the way, they look for houses that are “opportunities” to get help or to commit crimes.

“We were tucked down inside a canyon…” Alison explains, “When the wind would blow, you could smell the groups, it’s a horrific smell. And this was my first warning sign … I could tell whether they were close or far away based on how strong the smell was.”

Once, Alison was outside doing target practice and smelled a group close by. “I figured the sound of gun fire would push them away from the house,” she says, “but I saw a dark spot up on a rock wall, on a hill about 30 yards out, covered by brush. I squinted to see what it was … it was a man, who gave me (a) slow wave! My heart sank – I’ve got two little ones sleeping inside. It’s dusk. Before I can fully process what’s happening, he takes off running, coming down the hill (toward me) and disappears into the brush…and I’m thinking ‘Oh my God! Oh my God! My brain was trying to process the danger – how to get to my kids – And I ran.”

As Alison ran toward the house, the man ran toward her. “We’re about 15 feet apart and we make dead-eye contact, and he grins at me like ‘I got you.’… That was a pivotal moment. I realized I was prey.”

Alison sprinted toward the house to call the Border Patrol station as fast as she could, “hitting the buttons a thousand times!” and then, “I turn around and the man is coming up my front gate. I drop everything, pull my firearm, swing that door open and head out on that porch and yell “You STOP!” The Border Patrol supervisor was on the phone and heard the entire thing. The guy finally backed up …. but as I hung up the phone, he comes back (toward the house.) So I went back out and fired a round over the top of his head.”

Border Patrol tracked the man’s footprints and found he had walked all over the Anderson’s property while Alison and her girls were home alone. Alison says, “They tracked him for a couple hours, but he wasn’t caught. I was terrified he would come back and cause harm to me and the girls. That’s when I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”

Alison and her family lived on the ranch until Biden’s open border policies forced their move to Del Rio. “I had so many encounters…,” Alison says, “the dangers were escalating … the amount of traffic we had in groups coming to the house, looking in my daughters’ windows at night, trying to break in, camping on our property … groups that had been in the brush two days or longer…our house looked like an opportunity. I had a target on my back.”

But in the border town of Del Rio, Alison still deals with border chaos, like confronting smugglers on her property and a murder committed behind her house (smuggling related) in September 2023. “We have an overwhelming number of women, of families, experiencing (crises like) this. I’m glad we have a social network to (talk) about our experiences and how it affects our kids. We lean on each other, because people don’t understand.” Alison continues, “We feel like prey and look like victims in our own homes, where we are supposed to be safest, feel safest.”

Border residents say their stories are dismissed and ignored by politicians and media for political gain, and by an American public that is uninformed and complacent. “Americans don’t know…they have no idea. There’s a huge lack of interest because it doesn’t impact their daily lives.” Alison confides.

About border residents’ frustration, she says, “It’s the inaction – I’ve been to the capital in Austin, I’ve preached to (federal) legislators on border security forums, I’ve met the governor personally. I’ve talked to people who can make change happen. And it’s so maddening…why is it okay for our top official to ignore the law and there be no consequences? Border security, national security, should be at the top of the list.”

There is a war-like zone on our southern border that will only get worse if Biden is reelected. But no American citizen should ever have to live this way.

“We have border burnout—border PTSD.” Alison finishes. “We’re tired of sharing and reliving our stories over and over with elected officials, legislators, and politicians. We take pictures with them, we open our hearts to them, then they leave and there is absolutely no action ever.” She pauses to compose herself. “But we keep hoping –you never know who you’ll run into that can actually make a difference.”

Shea Bradley-Farrell is a Senior Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington D.C.-based foreign policy and defense think tank.