IRIA News

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Tunisia’s capital to denounce a power grab by President Kais Saied amid a worsening economic situation in the country.

Tunisia saw one of the biggest demonstrations by two rival Tunisian opposition groups against President Kais Saied, denouncing his moves to consolidate political power and demanding accountability for the country’s economic crisis as public anger grows over fuel and food shortages and growing unemployment. Tunisians are complaining that essential food items such as rice, vegetable oil, sugar, and even bottled water are not available in many grocery stores. “We can live without furniture, construction material, but we have to eat,” said Aicha, a resident of Tunis.

Tunisian president has blamed hoarders and speculators as well as the war in Ukraine for the food and fuel crisis but the growing hardships are causing frustration as Tunisia is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout loan of about $2 billion.

Protesters in central Tunis chanted, “Down, down” and “Revolution against dictator Kais”. One protester Henda Ben Ali was reported as saying: “Tunisia is bleeding. Saied is a failed dictator. He has set us back for many years. The game’s over. Get out.” The protesters accuse the president’s economic mismanagement and his “one-man rule” which critics describe as a return to autocracy in the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring. 

The march was organized by the National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition parties including the Islamist Ennahdha that had dominated Tunisia’s parliament before its dissolution by Saied. In its statement, the Salvation Front called the demonstrations a sign of a “general explosion and the collapse of the social and political order.” The group has also announced a boycott of elections with limited powers. Both groups denounced Kais Saied as an autocrat who is reversing the democratic progress made since the 2011 revolution that ousted authoritarian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and triggered the Arab spring.

Tensions in Zarzis

Tunisia’s southern town of Zarzis is witnessing continuous anger and tension after one of the illegal immigration boats sank and the authorities buried the victims in a cemetery designated for unidentified persons. As many as 20 civil organizations called for a protest in the capital in solidarity with the families of the victims, demanding humanitarian treatment that preserves the dignity of victims and ensures that the bodies of immigrants are decently buried. In a joint statement, the civil society organizations said that “The regional authorities quickly buried the bodies of immigrants without respecting the due arrangements … which exacerbated the families’  suffering. They felt that the state is attempting to black out the suffering and close the file as soon as possible”.

What’s happening in Tunisia?

Tunisia has been in crisis ever since President Saied dissolved the parliament and sacked the prime minister almost a year ago amid political tensions and economic shocks. Saied said the move was necessary to save the country from the protracted political and economic crisis and cleanse it of corruption. But critics and Western allies say the power grab grants him sweeping powers and jeopardizes Tunisia’s young democracy.

Kais Saied, the 64-year-old independent law professor, won a landslide victory in the 2019 presidential elections. He retained a strong support base from Tunisians tired of the economic and political crises in the country since the 2011 revolution. However, he has lost majority support since he suspended parliament and dissolved the government in 2021.

In July 2022, the Tunisan president held a constitutional referendum that would give the head of state full executive control, supreme command of the army and the ability to appoint a government without parliamentary approval.

The Tunisian Parliament Speaker and leader of Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi, has said that the July referendum was “the final proof that Saied is isolated” from the Tunisian people. “With his coup against democracy, he has lost whatever legitimacy he had,” Ghannouchi said. Tunisians had been suffering before Saied’s rule too but today “Tunisia is suffering from a disaster that cannot be solved, and through collapse and chaos it is being transformed into a failed state” he warned.