Protests in Tunisia against current government
2023.01.14 09:47
Protests in Tunisia against current government
Budrigannews.com – On Saturday, as they commemorated a significant date in the 2011 revolution that brought democracy, thousands of protesters marched against Tunisian President Kais Saied’s seizure of nearly all power in central Tunis. They demanded that Saied resign.
A Reuters journalist who was there said that the traditional location for major demonstrations, Habib Bourguiba Avenue, was crowded with thousands of protesters waving Tunisian flags amid chants of “the people demand the fall of the regime.”
Water cannon and a large number of police officers remained outside the building housing the Interior Ministry on the street.
“This is the most dangerous time in Tunisia’s history. Saied overthrew democracy and took control of everything. The economy is losing its way. “We will not remain silent,” a 34-year-old protester named Said Anouar Ali said.
In defiance of the authorities’ initial efforts to keep separate several parallel protests that had been called by various political parties and civil society organizations, protesters had pushed past police and metal barricades to reach the avenue.
“In January 2011, when Saied was not present, we were on Bourguiba; today, he is closing Bourguiba to us. Before the crowd broke through the barriers, activist Chaima Issa, who participated in the 2011 revolution, declared, “We will reach it regardless of the price.”
After it was prevented from marching near the presidential palace in Carthage, a different major opposition political party that was affiliated with the autocracy prior to the revolution held a separate rally in downtown Tunis.
In 2021, Saied dissolved the elected parliament and began reshaping the political system. However, the low turnout for the election of a new, largely powerless legislature in December showed that the public was not enthusiastic about his changes.
In the meantime, the economy is failing, and staple goods are disappearing from stores. Additionally, the state’s finances are in danger of going bankrupt, so the government has not yet been able to secure an international bailout.
Saied’s project is now opposed by the major political forces, including the majority of parties and the labor union, with many of them describing it as an anti-democratic coup.
However, instead of uniting, they have failed to mend the deep ideological and personal divides that have separated them for years.
A role for the largest party, the Islamist Ennahda, is still rejected by many parties. The powerful labor union UGTT wants to have a national conversation, but it won’t invite any party that says Saied did a coup.
Twelve years have passed since Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali’s ouster, and the majority of Tunisian parties and civil society organizations consider January 14 to be the revolution’s anniversary.
However, Saied unilaterally altered the official anniversary date, and he has stated that he considers January 14 to be the moment when the revolution went wrong.
While there has not been a significant crackdown on Saied’s opponents, police have permitted the majority of protests against him. However, their handling of demonstrations on January 14 of last year was more forceful, which was criticized by rights activists.
