Thousands protest against the Tunisian president’s near-total power grab | Tunisia

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Thousands of demonstrators in central Tunis marched against the near-total seizure of power by Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, calling for him to step down on the anniversary of a key date in the 2011 revolution that brought democracy.

The central Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the traditional site of major demonstrations, was packed with thousands of demonstrators waving Tunisian flags, chanting “The people demand the fall of the regime”.

A heavy police presence remained outside the Ministry of Interior building on the street, along with water cannons.

“Tunisia is going through the most dangerous time in its history. Said took control of all powers and struck democracy. The economy is collapsing. “We will not be silent,” said Said Anwar Ali, 34, a protester.

The demonstrators had bypassed police barriers and metal barriers to reach the road, defying initial efforts by the authorities to separate several parallel protests called by various political parties and civil society organisations.

The January 14 protests come 12 years to the day of the 2011 uprising. Photo: Mohamed Massara/EPA

“We were in Bourguiba in January 2011 when Said was not present… Today, Bourguiba’s door is closing on us. We will reach him, whatever the price,” said Chaimaa Issa, an activist who participated in the 2011 revolution before the crowd crossed the roadblocks.

Another opposition political party, allied with the autocracy before the revolution, held a separate rally in central Tunis after being prevented from demonstrating near the presidential palace in Carthage.

Saied shut down the parliament elected in 2021 and set about reshaping the political system. But low turnout in the December elections for a new, mostly incapacitated, legislature did not reveal a general desire to change it.

Heavy police presence along Habib Bourguiba central avenue. Photo: Zubair Souissi/Reuters

Meanwhile, the economy is failing, with essential commodities disappearing from the shelves, and the government yet to secure an international bailout with state finances facing bankruptcy.

Major political forces, including most parties and trade unions, oppose Saied’s project, and many describe it as an anti-democratic coup.

However, they failed to mend the deep ideological and personal divisions that had divided them for years rather than form a united front.

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Many parties still reject any role for the largest party, the Islamist Ennahda Party. The powerful UGTT labor union seeks national dialogue but will not invite any party accusing Saied of coup.

The protests come 12 years to the day after the overthrow of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and January 14 is considered by most Tunisian parties and civil society groups to be the anniversary of the revolution.

However, he is unilaterally unhappy with the date of the official anniversary and said that he considers January 14 a moment when the revolution was misled.

Although there was no major crackdown on Saied’s opponents, and the police allowed most of the protests against him, their handling of the January 14 demonstrations of last year was more forceful, leading to condemnation by human rights activists.

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