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rallying outside the country's parliament are split in their views on a political crisis sparked by what has beenÌýwidely described as a "coup" by .

The head of state on Sunday evening suspended the nation's parliament and removed its prime minister, , following a drawn-out stalemate.

Despite tight security outside the Assembly of Representatives, located in Bardo City, near the capital of Tunis, civilians and politicians came out in opposition to Saied's move, °®Âþµº's Arabic-language sister service, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Monday.

Protesters chanted "Down with the coup and no to the invocation of Article 80", the provision of the Tunisian constitution Saied used to justify the dismissal of the premier and his dissolving of the parliament.

"Revolutionaries, revolutionaries, no to colonialism," was another chant.

Speaker ofÌýParliament Rached Ghannouchi, who also leads the Islamist Ennahda Movement, which has the most number of seats and is a member of the coalition government, was stopped at the legislature's main gate as he tried to enter.

Ghannouchi's car turned back after the army forbade him from making his way into the compound.

Outside parliament there were scuffles between authorities and protesters trying to enter parliament after MPs were locked out by security forces.

Despite the strong anti-Saied turnout on the streets, others supported the president, with their own chants and ululated - a trilling sound commonly used to celebrate good news in the Middle East - to show their backing for his move.

Senior Ennahda figure Noureddine Al-Buhairi informedÌýAl-Araby Al-JadeedÌýthat "what happened is a coup against political legitimacy, and unfortunately there are parties close to Saied that support him in such abuses".

Al-Buhairi continued, saying there will be a "peaceful struggle until the return of political legitimacy".

Tunisians, Abdelhamid, described the president's move asÌý"a coup against political legitimacy, collusion with foreign forces, and an attempt to return to tyranny".

He said "it is necessary to support political legitimacyÌýand reject what happened", calling for parliament to resume.

Abdelmajid Belaid, the brother of assassinated leftist opposition figurehead Chokri Belaid, issued a statement toÌýAl-Araby Al-JadeedÌýdescribingÌýwhat happened as "an embodiment of Tunisian demands that were raised some time back but didn’t resonate".

Another citizen called Mohammed argued in favour of the president's actions, despairing the lack of reforms by the sitting governmentÌýand saying Tunisians should "take back their sovereignty".

°Õ³ó±ðÌý on Monday reportedly expressed that Doha "hopes that Tunisian parties will adopt the path of dialogue to overcome the crisis."

The EU and Arab League both called for calm and a return to political normality.