TUNIS: Thousands of Tunisians took to the streets of the capital, Tunis, on Sunday, the latest in a series of rallies against President Kais Saied, accused by opponents of grabbing power amid a deepening political crisis.
In July, Saied suspended parliament and sacked the prime minister, before further expanding his legislative and executive powers and suspending some parts of the constitution. The opposition decried the measures, calling them a “coup” and has since staged a string of street protests.
On Sunday, several thousand people, including supporters of the Ennahda movement, marched near the parliament in central Tunis, witnesses said. Security forces sealed off nearby Bardo Square and entrances leading to it to prevent protesters from gathering there, they added.
Protesters chanted against Saied’s measures and accused him of monopolising power. Some marchers chanted: “The people want to bring down the coup”; and “The people want to depose the president”.
Sunday’s rally came on the 66th anniversary of Tunisia’s Independence Day. Saied, a former law professor who took office in 2019, defended his moves, saying they were in line with the constitution, and promised to safeguard freedoms and rights.
Meanwhile, a firefight broke out between suspected fighters and police near a national guard barracks early on Sunday in the central Tunisian region of Kairouan, police said.
They said in a statement that gunmen in a car opened fire but were repelled by a “massive” retaliatory barrage, without any casualties reported in the exchange.
Those responsible for “this cowardly attack were probably… part of a fighter cell”, operating between Kairouan and Sousse in eastern Tunisia, that had been dismantled with arrests made, the statement said. The attack came on Tunisia’s independence day and with the country plunged in political crisis since a power grab last July by President Kais Saeid. – dpa/AFP