Tunisians Protest against President Saied’s Power Grab As Opposition Deepens

By Staff, Agencies

Several thousand demonstrators rallied in the Tunisian capital on Sunday to protest against President Kais Saied's seizure of power, calling on him to step down in the biggest show of public anger since his intervention.

Saied this week brushed aside much of the 2014 constitution, giving himself power to rule by decree two months after he sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority.

"The people want the fall of the coup," chanted the crowd on Tunis's Habib Bourguiba Avenue, a focal point of the demonstrations that ended the rule of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14, 2011. "Step down."

Police maintained a heavy presence around the demonstration and set up barricades.

The crisis has endangered the democratic gains that Tunisians won in the 2011 revolution that triggered the Arab Spring protests and has slowed efforts to tackle an urgent threat to public finances.

Saied has said his actions, which his opponents have called a coup, are needed to address a crisis of political paralysis, economic stagnation and a poor response to the coronavirus pandemic. He has promised to uphold rights and not become a dictator.