March 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Thousands of people have demonstrated this Saturday in Tunisia against the government of the president, Kais Saied, to protest against the imprisonment of politicians and activists.
The General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) has called for this mobilization, which also denounces the restrictions on basic rights that are the responsibility of Saied, whom they accuse of illegitimately concentrating the powers of the State, reports the pan-Arab Al Jazeera television.
In the march through the center of the Tunisian capital, banners were displayed with slogans such as “No to the one-man government” or “Let’s stop the attacks against the union” and slogans such as “Saied, coward, the union is not afraid” or “Freedom! End of the police state.”
In recent weeks, dozens of prominent opponents have been arrested in an unprecedented campaign since Saied seized most of the state powers in 2021 after dissolving Parliament.
The general secretary of the UGTT, Nurredín Tabubi, stressed at the beginning of the demonstration that “the workers are united and we have chosen the path of struggle.” “The fight is not cheap,” he has warned.
“We are not going to accept the persecution of freedoms in this country. There is no place for tyranny in Tunisia. We salute the politicians imprisoned in the Mornaguia prison,” he added.
Tabubi has thus denounced the “night raids on the houses of politicians” and the “intimidation of their relatives.” “The era of injustice, persecution and tyranny is over,” he has proclaimed.
One of the attendees, Nayé Zidi, a professor, has warned that “Saied threatens everyone: parties, civil society and unions.” “We are here to say that we cannot accept populism and the nascent dictatorship,” he pointed out.
This Sunday the opposition gathered in the National Salvation Front has called a demonstration to protest against the recent arrests of opponents and activists and to denounce Saied’s authoritarian drift, despite the fact that it has not been authorized.
The governor of the province of Tunisia, Kamel Fekí, has indicated that the refusal is due to suspicions surrounding a possible “conspiracy against state security” of which the authorities accuse senior officials of the opposition coalition.
The detained politicians are accused of conspiring against state security. Among them are politicians from the Islamist Ennahda party, three senior officials from the National Salvation Front –Chaima Isa, Rida Belhaj and Yauar Ben Mbarek–, activists, independent journalists and businessmen.
The opposition, mostly united around the National Salvation Front, which includes Ennahda -which had a majority in the suspended Parliament in July 2021-, has demanded Saied’s resignation, especially after his call The boycott in the December and January legislatures will result in a participation rate close to ten percent.
