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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Thousands Protest against Tunisian President on Sunday

Tunisia's President Kais Saied gives a statement on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination, during a European Union - African Union summit, in Brussels, Belgium February 18, 2022. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Pool

Thousands of supporters of the Free Constitutional Party protested on Sunday against President Kais Saied for his march towards one-man rule and failure to avert an economic crisis.

The protest is the biggest by the party since Saied seized executive power last summer, according to Reuters.

"Saied you are going the wrong way... your plans are catastrophic for the country," said Karima Jouini, 44, a teacher attending the march in central Tunis that was led by Moussi.

The most vocal opposition to Saied has come from the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, the largest in the suspended parliament and a key player in successive governments since the revolution.

Moussi and her Free Constitutional party are bitterly opposed to Ennahda, casting it as the cause of Tunisia's main problems over the past decade and she has not criticized any of Saied's moves targeting Islamists.

However, while Saied has focused almost entirely on reconstructing the political system and purging his opponents, he has done very little to address Tunisia's economic problems.

"Rest assured, we will not let them dismantle the state and continue with individual rule," Moussi said, addressing the protest.

"If we remain silent, we will become a country whose food is sent to it in planes, like the poorest countries in the world," she added.

The country faces a crisis in public finances for which it has embarked on talks for a rescue package with the International Monetary Fund, but Tunisians already face shortages of staple goods including flour, semolina and sugar.

"Saied kidnapped the country just to impose his own project, but he has led it to famine," said another protester who gave his name as Imed.

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