Thousands from rival Tunisian parties protest against president

Record ID: 1693352

  • Title: Thousands from rival Tunisian parties protest against president
  • Date: 15th October 2022
  • Summary: TUNIS, TUNISIA (OCTOBER 15, 2022)(REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ENNAHDHA PARTY SUPPORTERS MARCHING IN THE STREET CHANTING SLOGANS AND HOLDING SIGNS (SOUNDBITE (Arabic)TUNISIAN POLITICIAN, ABEDELTIF EL MEKKI, SAYING: “The Tunisian people, who fought for 50 years for democracy, will not allow the coup to settle in this country, and they have seen the extent of mismanagement, incompetence and failure” VARIOUS OF ENNAHDHA PARTY SUPPORTERS MARCHING IN THE STREET CHANTING SLOGANS AND HOLDING SIGNS SIGN READING(English): ‘Kais Saied - Out!’ (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic)TUNISIAN CITIZEN, MONIA HAJJI, SAYING: “What motivated me to go down today is the coup and the miserable conditions in which the country is today, there is no water or milk, no sugar and no petrol, and we have a president who is only interested in power.” VARIOUS OF ENNAHDHA PARTY AND SALVATION FRONT LEADER SPEAKING TO PROTESTORS VARIOUS PROTESTORS SCRAMBLING WITH POLICE FORCES 8 (SOUNDBITE (Arabic)TUNISIAN CITIZEN AND FREE DESTORIAN PARTY SUPPORTER, HENDA BEN ALI SAYING: “I came today to defend my country and to defend our rights, Tunisia is bleeding, hunger and poverty and we have nothing in Tunisia, like petrol, you have to wait for hours to buy petrol, what is this system?” VARIOUS OF FREE DESTORIAN PARTY SUPPORTER CHANTING SLOGANS SIGN READING (English):‘Tunisians wake up” VARIOUS OF FREE DESTORIAN PARTY SUPPORTERS HOLDING SIGNS
  • Embargoed: 29th October 2022 15:15
  • Keywords: Destorian party Ennahdha party Free Constitutional Party President Kais Saied Salvation Front street protest
  • Location: TUNIS, TUNISIA
  • City: TUNIS, TUNISIA
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: Africa,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA001252415102022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Two rival Tunisian opposition groups staged one of the biggest days of protest so far against President Kais Saied on Saturday (October 15), 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.
    “I came today to defend my country and to defend our rights, Tunisia is bleeding, hunger and poverty," 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 July referendum, has said the measures were needed to save Tunisia from years of crisis.
    In a speech on 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.
    Tunisian are meanwhile struggling to make ends meet as a crisis in state finances has contributed to shortages of subsidised 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 Tunisian, 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.
    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, criticised 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.
    (Production, Jihed Abidellaoui)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register