TUNIS (Reuters) – Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Tunis on Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the ouster of President Kais Saied, demanding an end to “autocratic rule” and the immediate release of jailed opposition leaders.
About 300 people gathered in the center of Habib Bourguiba Avenue in a rally organized by the main opposition Salvation Front, holding placards reading “Freedom of political prisoners” and “Down with the coup”.
Elsewhere in the capital, hundreds of supporters of another opposition party, the Free Constitution Party, led by party leader Abir Moussi, gathered waving Tunisian flags and chanting: “Poverty is increasing, hunger is increasing.”
Saied took power in 2021, shutting down parliament before passing a new constitution giving him full power.
Political Cartoons of World Leaders
In April, authorities arrested opposition leader and prominent Saied critic Rached Ghannouchi, 82, former prime minister Ali Laryedh and other Ghannouchi party officials.
Earlier in February, the police arrested about 20 prominent political leaders, including members of the Salvation Front, on charges of plotting state security.
The opposition says Saied, who was elected in 2019, expanded his powers in a coup, but has defended his actions as legal and necessary to save Tunisia from rampant chaos and corruption.
“Saied changed the whole law, the whole political system became worse… If there is danger coming, it is Kais Saied”, Abir Moussi told supporters.
Tunisia is in the midst of severe economic problems and needs foreign financial aid to avoid defaulting on its debts, while Tunisians suffer from high living costs and shortages of basic goods, such as sugar, semolina, oil, coffee and rice.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.
| Daily News Post