Tunisians mark fifth year of emergency rule with calls for Saied to go

Thousands rally successful Tunis calling for ‘fall of the regime’ 5 years since President Kais Saied suspended parliament.

Thousands of Tunisians person rallied successful the superior to request the resignation of President Kais Saied, denouncing worsening surviving conditions, antiauthoritarian backsliding and mismanagement of the state.

Crowds marched down Habib Bourguiba Avenue successful cardinal Tunis connected Saturday arsenic the state marked 5 years since Saied declared a nationalist emergency, suspended parliament and aboriginal dissolved it successful bid to regularisation by decree.

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It’s the latest successful a tally of caller protests opposing crackdowns connected dissent, a struggling economy and limits connected press freedoms.

Saied’s opponents accused him of abusing exigency measures to institute a reversal of Tunisia’s hard-won antiauthoritarian modulation process.

“We took to the streets contiguous to clasp the strategy of governance to relationship and to exposure its failures, due to the fact that it is our relation arsenic governmental and civilian forces,” Wissam Sghaier, spokesperson for the Jomhouri absorption party, told Al Jazeera. “And to usage fashionable Tunisian expressions: We are not tenants of this country, we are its owners.

“If for that crushed they’re going to fabricate cases against america and impeach us, past erstwhile our friends and comrades are imprisoned today, prisons are welcome,” Sghaier continued. “We are acceptable to wage the price.”

The marchers acceptable retired from Republic Square and moved towards the Municipal Theatre bearing flags and banners rejecting the nationalist programme Saied calls the “July 25 path”.

Demonstrators called for Saied to “leave”, chanted for “freedom, enactment and nationalist dignity” and revived the telephone “the radical privation the autumn of the regime”.

These aforesaid words erstwhile rang retired successful the aforesaid avenue astatine the commencement of Tunisia’s antiauthoritarian gyration successful 2011.

Many of the protesters carried signs and chanted for the merchandise of governmental prisoners, who person filled Tunisia’s prisons since Saied seized exigency powers.

The telephone for protestation began with Nafas, an umbrella inaugural that brings unneurotic Tunisia’s absorption parties and autarkic figures opposed to Saied’s monopolisation of power.

Imed al-Khamiri, spokesperson for Tunisia’s Ennahdha party, told Al Jazeera Arabic that the protests had expanded beyond accepted absorption parties to see a wider ellipse of citizens disaffected by the government’s handling of economical issues and nationalist services.

Prominent Tunisian absorption figures pb the protestation against President Kais Saied connected July 25, 2026 [Fethi Belaid/AFP]

Tunisia’s antiauthoritarian modulation began with the ousting of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali successful January of 2011, aft months of civilian unrest. In the ensuing years, Tunisia held its archetypal escaped elections and adopted a caller constitution guaranteeing governmental freedoms.

Much of those gains person since been undone. Since instituting regularisation by decree, Saied has dismissed dozens of judges, criminalised the dispersed of media the authorities deems mendacious and arrested large figures successful the opposition.

Among the astir salient of those present jailed is Rached Ghannouchi, the 85-year-old erstwhile parliament talker who played a salient relation successful Tunisia’s reforms. Jailed for years, helium was sentenced successful June to beingness positive 30 years connected “terrorism” charges. He reportedly suffers from deteriorating wellness and recently fainted from the conditions of imprisonment.

Saied maintains that his measures purpose to tackle corruption and forestall chaos, denying that immoderate rights oregon freedoms person been curtailed.