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Join on Telegram Rabat – Thousands took to the streets of Tunisia’s capital Tunis on Sunday to protest against president Kais Saied, more than three months after he operated an unprecedented power grab that saw him dismiss the government and freeze the parliament.
Sunday’s protests come a week after similarly numbered demonstrations displayed support for the president, highlighting the political divide in the country following Saied’s ascent to power.
Moncef Marzouki, who was Tunisia’spresident from 2011 to 2014, called yesterday for Tunisians to protest against Saied on Sunday, in a video posted on his official Facebook page.
“I invite you all to participate in this protest to defend the constitution, democracy, sovereignty, and to defend your dignity and freedoms,” Marzouki said in the video.
Despite a heavy police presence preventing marches to reach the Habib Bourguiba Avenue in downtown Tunis and some friction with protestors, there have been no clashes between law enforcement and the protestors.
Khaled Hayouni, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, affirmed that law enforcement would respond to protestors from all sides in the same manner and that the Tunisian police do not take sides in political confrontations.
In July, Kais Saied fired the country’s prime minister and suspended parliamentary activities, claiming he had to “intervene” to “save” Tunisia from more political paralysis by assuming more executive and judicial authority before the appointment of a new government.
Many opponents of Saied’s “intervention,” including the largest political party Ennahda, criticized the move as a coup d’etat and a violation of the constitution.
Tunisia was in the midst of a political crisis in the months following Saied’s takeover before he appointed a new prime minister in Najla Bouden Romdhane in September.
Saied has stated that he will host a dialogue with all Tunisians in the future to determine the country’s trajectory, but experts expect that if this dialogue does not include prominent political parties or civil organizations, the backlash against him would grow stronger.
Saied has also repeatedly dismissed foreign pressures to expediently resolve the country’s crisis.
