On Sunday, hundreds of protesters protested in Tunis for a second day against the president’s request for a constitutional vote that critics claim will strengthen his grasp on power.
The Salvation Front, a coalition that includes moderate Islamist Ennahda, the largest party in a Parliament that President Saied dissolved in March, organized the protest.
It came after a similar demonstration organized by the Free Constitutional Party on Saturday in opposition to the referendum and a major labor union strike on Thursday against government economic reform proposals that paralyzed much of the nation.
Supporters of the president claimed that he was opposing powerful elites whose incompetence and corruption had doomed Tunisia to a decade of political stalemate and economic stagnation.
The country’s main political parties said they will boycott the plebiscite. But opposition to President Saied remained fragmented, as shown by the separate demonstrations at the weekend.
On Sunday, protesters marched through central Tunis to Avenue Habib Bourguiba, watched by a heavy police presence.
“Saied must leave… The people on the streets are constantly against you Saied,” activist Chaima Issa told Reuters. “The UGTT (union) went on strike, and judges are protesting. Do you want to rule a people that reject you?”
Judges in Tunisia on Saturday extended their national strike for a third week in protest against a decision by President Saied to sack 57 judges on June 1.
The president accused them of corruption and protecting terrorists – charges that the Tunisian Judges’ Association said were mostly politically motivated.
President Saied’s move heightened accusations at home and abroad that he has consolidated one-man rule after assuming executive powers last summer and setting aside the 2014 Constitution to rule by decree. -Reuters
