A demonstration took place in Tunis to protest against a referendum planned for July by President Kais Saied. Clashes broke out there.
Scuffles took place on Saturday between the police and a hundred demonstrators who were protesting in Tunis against a referendum planned for July by President Kais Saied, a year after his coup described as a coup by the opposition.
The police blocked demonstrators who tried to reach the headquarters of the Independent High Authority for Elections (Isie), whose president was appointed by Mr. Saied himself. According to opponents, this measure aims to extend its control over state institutions.
On April 22, Mr. Saied assumed the power to appoint three of the seven members of Isie, including the president. On May 9, he appointed Farouk Bouasker, a former member of Isie, president of this body to replace Nabil Baffoun, who had criticized the July 2021 coup.
Since July 25, 2021, Kais Saied, claiming to act in Tunisia’s interest in the face of political and economic blockages, has concentrated all powers and led the country by decree-laws, raising fears of an autocratic drift in the cradle of the Arab Spring.
In a roadmap supposed to get the country out of the crisis, Mr. Saied has planned a referendum on constitutional amendments on July 25, before legislative elections on December 17.
No draft of the new Constitution, which will be submitted to the people in the form of a simple yes/no vote, has however been published.
A dialogue for the new Constitution boycotted by the opposition
Some participants in the protest organized by five smaller parties held up signs that read “President’s Commission = Fraud Commission”.
“The police… used tear gas against us and attacked us,” Tunisian Workers’ Party spokesman Hamma Hammami said.
Saturday also marks the start of the “national dialogue” organized by the president to draw up the new Constitution. It is boycotted by the opposition, including the powerful UGTT trade union organization, which believes that key players in civil society and political parties are excluded.
The president’s opponents accuse him of leading the country towards autocracy and of wanting to set up a docile electoral body before the referendum and the legislative elections.
Many Tunisians, however, support his actions against a system they say has done little to improve their quality of life in the decade since the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
In addition to the political crisis, Tunisia is in the throes of serious economic difficulties, including galloping inflation and very high unemployment. Over-indebted, the country is trying to obtain a new loan from the International Monetary Fund of at least four billion dollars.