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Protest and posters: "Down with the populist putsch" and "We are united, not divided" read the banners of the demonstrators in Tunis
Photo: MOHAMED MESSARA/EPA
Thousands of people have gathered in Tunisia for the largest protest to date against President Kais Saied's controversial measures.
The participants shouted slogans such as "Down with the putsch" and posted signs against the "division of the people", as eyewitnesses reported.
Supporters of the Islamist party Ennahda and the newly founded movement »Muatinun dida al Inqilab« (»Citizens against the coup«) took part in the demonstration in the capital Tunis.
A week earlier, Saied's supporters had demonstrated in central Tunis.
The political crisis in the small country in North Africa is getting worse and worse.
The background to this are controversial measures by Head of State Saied, who dissolved parliament last month.
He had previously deposed the prime minister.
The ex-law professor Saied, who has been in office since October 2019, has defended his steps against criticism and said he is moving within the framework of the constitution.
His opponents speak of a coup d'etat.
Unclear constitutional referendum
Saied has announced a referendum on the constitution and a "national dialogue" for July.
However, it is unclear which changes the Tunisians will vote on and which issues will be discussed in the dialogue.
Sections of the opposition claim that Saied wants to dissolve parties in the country and place their leaders and other political leaders under house arrest.
Meanwhile, journalists are apparently coming under increasing pressure.
In the annual ranking of press freedom worldwide by the aid organization Reporters Without Borders, Tunisia fell by more than 20 places and is now in 94th place out of 180.
Tunisia has been struggling with an economic crisis and high unemployment, especially among young people, for years.
For a long time, it was considered the only country that made the transition to democracy after the Arab uprisings of 2010.
atb/dpa/Reuters
