Antigovernment protesters take to Tunisia’s streets for second month

By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters.

Key points

• Saied, a 68-year-old independent politician and former constitutional lawyer, was elected in 2019 in a victory that he described at the time as "like a revolution".
• It was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of President Saied's 2021 dismissal of the administration and suspension of parliament.
• Though he shortly spoke out against elements of the document, saied was one of the legal advisers who supported draft Tunisia's 2014 democratic constitution.
• Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets of Tunisia's capital to call for the ousting of President Kais Saied and the restoration of democracy.
• One demonstrator at Thursday's march, activist Wissem Sghaier, remarked the country is "experiencing a complete collapse", the Reuters news agency noted.

Protesters in Tunis remarked on Thursday that they reject "one-man rule" and "a slide towards dictatorship", and called on the release of jailed opposition figures, activists and journalists.

Thursday's protest follows a similar one on July 25. It was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of President Saied's 2021 dismissal of the administration and suspension of parliament. He began ruling by decree afterwards that year and dissolved parliament in 2022.

Tunisians are facing mounting economic and cost-of-living pressures, ⁠with deteriorating public services and shortages of some basic goods and medicines.

Tunisia's inflation rate at present sits at 5.2 percent, according to the World Bank. Investment in the country has fallen precipitously, and Saied's administration has introduced a series of cost-saving measures, including halting public sector hiring and reducing imports.

Protests have broken out in a number of parts of the country in recent weeks over water and power cuts and environmental difficulties, suggesting that public anger is spreading beyond political disputes with Saied to the mounting hardships of everyday life. The country was additionally one of a number of North African countries to be hit by major wildfires this summer.

Rights groups, meanwhile, say that Saied has presided over a broad crackdown targeting opposition leaders, independent civil society groups, journalists and activists. Who is Tunisian President Kais Saied?

Saied, a 68-year-old independent politician and former constitutional lawyer, was elected in 2019 in a victory that he described at the time as "like a revolution". His campaign refused to take funds and instead relied on a diverse array of Tunisian volunteers, and its messaging focused heavily on tackling corruption.

Since coming to power, Saied has drawn the ire of international rights groups for a series of measures perceived as anti-democratic. That includes reforms of the judiciary that offered Saied unprecedented control over Tunisia's courts via the creation of a new governing body with him at the head, and mass trials of political opponents.

In short, antigovernment protesters take to Tunisia's streets for second month is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.