Tunis [Tunisia]: Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi on Saturday made his first public appearance after being discharged from a hospital last week due to an unspecified serious illness.
A video released by the president’s office showed Essebsi signing a decree on Friday, authorising elections in October and November, and making a brief address four days after being discharged from a military hospital, Al Jazeera reported.
“I was treated by a qualified team. The results were positive, a matter that hastened my discharge from the hospital,” Essebsi said in Arabic at the televised address without providing further details.
Essebsi added that he would stay in power until December when his terms end.
The Tunisian President also extended the ongoing state of emergency in the country by one month which came in the wake of three suicide bombings targetting the capital Tunis in the past two weeks, his office said in a statement later.
Essebsi took office in 2014 in the wake of the country’s 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Essebsi recently announced he would not run in the presidential elections scheduled to be held in November, saying a younger person should lead the country.
The president’s hospitalisation came on the same day when the Tunisian capital was rocked by two suicide blasts, which were later claimed by the Islamic State. The bombings had targetted security forces in Tunis and injured at least three civilians and many police personnel.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]