The 63-year-old president, who had a landslide victory in the 2019 Presidential elections of the north African country, suspended Parliament, sacked Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi on Sunday, fired defence and justice ministers on Monday, according to an Al Jazeera report.

A day later, he went on to dismiss several top officials, including the Army chief prosecutor. He then dismissed the CEO of national television channel Wataniya on Wednesday, it said.

Further, he has also lifted parliamentary immunity of legislators and assumed judicial powers.

He also ordered a probe against three political parties for allegedly receiving foreign funds before the 2019 elections.

Meanwhile, Tunisia's civil society has warned against an illegitimate extension of Saied's 30-day extension of Parliament's suspension, Al Jazeera reported.

Saied has claimed at least $5 billion have been looted from the country by various means, the report said.

He has also said the extreme measures taken over the last few days are justified under the constitution, which authorised the head of the state to take unspecified exceptional measures in case of an imminent threat.

Apart from the political crisis, Tunisia is surrounded with economic troubles, including soaring inflation and high unemployment. The country is also grappling with growing coronavirus cases.

The European Union, the United States and other international powers have expressed deep concern over the political developments in Tunisia while the largest party, Ennahdha Party, in the coalition government has labelled the power grab a "coup d'etat".