TUNIS —
More than a thousand
Tunisians rallied Sunday decrying what they said was a
power grab by President Kais Saied and his proposed constitutional reforms.
اضافة اعلان
“Get out,”
protesters in the capital Tunis shouted at a rally organized by the
Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party that dominated the now-dissolved parliament,
and a movement named “Citizens Against the Coup”.
Saied — a former
law professor elected in 2019 amid public anger against the political class —
on July 25 last year sacked the government, froze the assembly, and seized
wide-ranging powers.
He later gave
himself powers to rule and legislate by decree and seized control over the
judiciary.
“The people want
to dismiss the president,” the crowds chanted, many waving national flags.
“Down with the coup.”
Last month, the
president dissolved parliament, dealing another blow to the political system in
place since the
North African country’s 2011 revolt, which sparked the Arab
Spring uprisings in the region.
“There is no
democracy without legislative power,” shouted other protesters, who defied a
large deployment of riot police to take to the streets.
Saied has been
repeatedly criticized by Western governments and rights groups for his moves,
which have sparked fears of a return to autocracy 11 years after the overthrow
of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
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