Hundreds of Tunisians have taken to the streets to protest against President Kais Saied a week before parliamentary elections are set to take place under a new constitution.
“Saied get out!” protesters chanted as they marched in the centre of the capital, Tunis, on Saturday.
Speakers at the protest, including senior politicians from opposition parties, said the vote scheduled for December 17 was illegitimate and urged a boycott, accusing Saied of carrying out an undemocratic coup.
“All the opposition is agreed on one position which is rejecting a coup and calling for a return to democracy,” Samira Chaouachi, a deputy speaker in the elected parliament that Saied dissolved, said.
The president shut down the previous parliament in March 2021 and ruled by decree before rewriting the constitution to accrue more powers.
Only about a quarter of registered voters turned out to vote “yes” in July to a referendum on the new constitution, which gives the president the ultimate authority over the government and judiciary.
The International Commission of Jurists’ Regional Directo Said Benarbia warned that the new constitution “defeats the very idea of separation of powers and checks and balances.”
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