Tunisia should swiftly return to its "democratic path," a top White House official on Saturday told President Kais Saied, days after a coup that saw the country's parliament suspended.

In an hour-long call with Saied, President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan noted support for "Tunisian democracy based on fundamental rights, strong institutions and a commitment to the rule of law," according to a White House statement. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), it said the call "focused on the critical need for Tunisian leaders to outline a swift return to Tunisia's democratic path."

"This will require rapidly forming a new government, led by a capable prime minister to stabilize Tunisia's economy and confront the COVID-19 pandemic," it added.

On July 25, Saied sacked Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended parliament for 30 days. He ordered a graft crackdown targeting 460 businesspeople and an investigation into alleged illegal funding of political parties. The president's surprise move has plunged Tunisia into political turmoil. In addition, the North African nation is beset by a crippling economic crisis marked by soaring inflation and high unemployment, as well as surging COVID-19 infections.

Tunisian authorities Friday imprisoned an opposition lawmaker and briefly detained four members of the Ennahdha Movement, one of the biggest political parties in the parliament. The Ennahdha members were accused of trying to promote violence after Saied’s coup announcement last week, according to party official Riadh Chaidi.

Ennahdha played a vital role in the Tunisian legislature after the 2011 revolution, which inspired the Arab Spring uprisings across the region. Four more lawmakers were detained earlier Friday, and a judge was placed under house arrest.

"I know the constitutional texts very well, respect them and taught them and after all this time I will not turn into a dictator as some have said," the presidency quoted the former law professor as saying.

According to experts, domestic stability and maintaining democracy and freedoms are far more important to the Tunisian economy than pressure or foreign stances regarding political developments in the country. Exceptional measures followed by others in the past days have put the country in a cautious calm and anticipation.

Positions of political parties, civil and labor organizations and Tunisians have varied between rejecting and supporting Saied's decisions amid calls for a national dialogue to overcome the crisis. On the international scene, reactions also varied between supporting the measures of the president, while others considered what happened a "coup" against democracy and a violation of the constitution.

Reactions included the U.S., which expressed support for Tunisia in negotiations with international financial institutions in a statement by Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary for Africa and the Middle East Eric Meyer on Wednesday during a meeting in the Tunisian capital of Tunis with Marouane Abbasi, governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia.

Tunisia is currently negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to obtain a $4 billion loan. Along those lines, Meyer affirmed the U.S.' readiness to "support Tunisian endeavors, especially with international financial institutions, with the need to expedite the completion of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to avoid an exacerbation of the economic crisis in Tunisia, which has been exacerbated by the repercussions of the health pandemic."

Journalist and economic analyst Jannat Ben Abdallah told Anadolu Agency (AA) that she believes "the American position in continuing cooperation with Tunisia is positive and can at least give guarantees at the level of global financial markets and investors, provided that Tunisia does not deviate from its peaceful path."

She said political and economic aspects are intertwined and that the current political crisis will have an impact on the economy, especially since Tunisia suffers from a lack of liquidity. Tunisia needs "external financing and the continuation of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund," she said, noting that "negotiations with international currency have been disrupted due to political and governmental instability."

"As long as developments in Tunisia are unstable, and due to the waiting for other new changes to be issued by the Tunisian presidency, these situations and external reactions must be dealt with great caution," she said, stressing that the stance of the U.S. toward Tunisia cannot be considered a "blank cheque."

Internal stability is more important than external pressures, economist Reda al-Shakandali from the University of Carthage told AA. "The external positions of the United States or other countries help to get us out of the political crisis, but they do not disrupt what will happen internally in the next few days," he said.

Stressing the importance of freedoms and democracy, the Tunisian professor said: "I believe that the current situation and the exceptional measures that have taken place recently will not last, and it does not require external pressure or rigid positions from any external party to change the internal affairs."

"What matters now is the internal situation and the need for Tunisians to agree with each other, regardless of their different political and ideological orientations, before thinking about external positions. It is in the interest of these people today to preserve the stability of the country, which went through a decade in building the democratic path and constitutional institutions," he said.

"As Tunisians, we must continue to build a democratic state, away from the political noise that alone disrupts the building of a strong economy, and does not leave room for the implementation of economic reforms that require political stability and a continuation of the march towards a democratic state, in order to then be able to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund in an assuring framework," he added.