Tunis: Thousands take to the streets in largest protest against Kais Saied

Tunis: Thousands take to the streets in largest protest against Kais Saied
Tunis: Thousands take to the streets in largest protest against Kais Saied

Mass turnout in the capital

On Saturday, Tunis hosted the largest demonstration in recent years against incumbent President Kais Saied. Thousands of residents of the capital took to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with the country's leadership policies.

The main organisers of the event were the influential UGTT trade union and civil society organisations. The rally took place against the backdrop of an economic crisis in Tunisia, deteriorating quality of public services, regular water and power cuts, as well as shortages of medicines and essential goods.

Accusations of authoritarianism

Protest participants accused the head of state of undermining democracy and ineffective economic management. It is worth noting that in 2021–2022, Saied concentrated extensive powers in his hands: he dissolved parliament, dismissed dozens of judges and began governing the country by decree. The president's opponents characterised these actions as a coup d'état.

Human rights organisations claim that the president has intensified pressure on representatives of civil society, journalists and the opposition. Saied rejects these accusations, insisting that he is not a dictator. According to him, his opponents artificially create economic crises to provoke social unrest.

March along Bourguiba Avenue

Opposition parties of various political orientations united with lawyers, doctors, journalists, the unemployed and representatives of civil society organisations. The column marched along Habib Bourguiba Avenue. This is one of the main sites of the 2011 protests that helped spark the "Arab Spring" uprising.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed across the capital to maintain order. Demonstrators carried placards demanding the release of Saied's critics who are in custody and an end to what they called attacks on trade union rights. Some participants of the event expressed outrage at the high level of unemployment and environmental pollution.

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