Tunisia's President Kais Saied dismisses rumours about his ill health

Opposition group says president has been absent from public duties since March 22

Tunisia's President Kais Saied has denied rumours of serious illness. Reuters

Tunisian President Kais Saied denied rumours of serious illness on Monday, saying any suggestion he might have to step down due to health problems was "completely crazy".

Mr Saied said it was wrong to allege "that there would be a vacancy [in presidency]." He made the remarks following a meeting with Prime Minister Najla Bouden.

Rumours about the Tunisian president's health started circulating three days earlier, largely shared by Mr Saied's opponents, who suggested that he had suffered a health setback that rendered him incapacitated and unable to conduct his usual activities and duties as president.

Mr Saied has not made a public appearance since March 22, following his visit to Beb Souika district in the capital Tunis.

Earlier on Monday, Tunisian opposition group the National Salvation Front asked Mr Saied to explain his absence from public view.

The Tunisian presidency, as well as other government officials and Tunisian authorities, refused to respond to claims about Mr Saied's health and whereabouts to local media, before officially responding to the issue on Monday evening.

The opposing National Salvation Front said that if Mr Saied was too unwell to remain in office, talks should be held on how to transfer power.

The Tunisian head of state said that co-ordination between him and the head of government had not ceased for the past 11 days and allegations to the contrary were "baseless".

Mr Saied said in a video statement published on the official presidency Facebook page, where he spoke with PM Najla Bouden, that certain unnamed parties were fabricating a death certificate and posting it online to support their claims.

He also said that "there is no room for talking about a state of vacancy in the country," and accused those of promoting such information of seeking to create tension and fabricate crises in Tunisia.

"They are trying to fabricate crises, what matters to them is [for Tunisia] to have back to back crisis," he said.

"They want a state of vacancy in the country. They have really reached levels of insanity that we have not seen before."

Italian news agency Agenzia Nova also reported earlier on Monday that president Kais Saied had suffered a heart attack on Thursday, and was expected to resume his activities on Wednesday.

The agency said that "European diplomatic sources" confirmed the news, however, no other specific details were provided.