hadhwanaag
Two rival Tunisian
opposition groups staged one of the biggest days of protest so far against
President Kais Saied on Saturday, denouncing his moves to consolidate political
power as public anger grows over fuel and food shortages.
Thousands of supporters
from the Islamist Ennahda party and the Free Constitutional Party held parallel
rallies in adjacent areas of the capital, Tunis, accusing Saied of economic
mismanagement and of an anti-democratic coup.
"Tunisia is
bleeding. Saied is a failed dictator. He has set us back for many years. The
game's over. Get out," said protester Henda Ben Ali.
Saied, who moved to
rule by decree after shutting down parliament last year and expanding his
powers with a new constitution passed in a July referendum, has said the
measures were needed to save Tunisia from years of crisis.
In a speech Saturday to
commemorate the departure of French troops upon Tunisia's 1956 independence, he
demanded the departure today of "all who want to undermine independence"
- an apparent allusion to his political foes.
Saied's opponents say
his actions have undermined the democracy secured through a 2011 revolution
that ousted autocratic leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and triggered the Arab
spring.
Ennahda and the Free
Constitutional Party have long been bitter foes, but both are now more focused
on their struggle against Saied.
Tunisians are meanwhile
struggling to make ends meet as a crisis in state finances has contributed to
shortages of subsidized goods including petrol, sugar and milk on top of years
of economic malaise and entrenched unemployment.
The president, who has
blamed hoarders and speculators for the shortages, appears to retain broad
support among many Tunisians, but the growing hardships are causing frustration
and increasing the flow of illegal migrants to Europe.
In the southern town of
Zarzis this week, residents protested over the burial in unmarked graves of
local people who had died in one of the many shipwrecks of migrants trying to
reach Italy.
"While our youth
are dying at sea in boats to escape from hell, Saied is only interested in
gathering power," said Monia Hajji, a protester.
In Tunis, there have
been some isolated clashes this week in poor districts between police and
protesting youths, and there was a heavy police presence in the city on
Saturday.
The Free Constitutional
Party leader Abir Moussi, a supporter of the pre-revolution autocracy,
criticized the stringent security arrangements in a speech to protesters,
asking Saied: "Why are you afraid?"
At both rallies,
protesters chanted "the people want the fall of the regime," the
slogan of the 2011 revolution.
"The situation is
about to explode and is dangerous for the future," said the Ennahda former
prime minister Ali Larayedh.
VOA
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