At a rally against the Tunisian government held on Saturday and sponsored by the influential UGTT union, which urged President Kaid Saied to accept “dialogue,” more than 3,000 people participated.
Since he froze parliament and ousted the government in July 2021, Saied has pushed through significant changes to the political system in the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings, concentrating almost all power in his office.
Over the past two weeks, police have detained about 20 prominent political figures, mostly Saied’s rivals, in the largest crackdown since the president’s attempt to seize power.
On Saturday, protesters marched through Tunis chanting “Freedom, freedom, down with the police state” and demanding “a stop to poverty” in the nation of North Africa.
Noureddine Taboubi, the head of the UGTT, charged that the president had targeted the influential union as part of a broader campaign against detractors.
Taboubi criticized the most recent round of arrests and Anis Kaabi’s imprisonment since February. Kaabi was a top official for the UGTT representing highway workers and was detained following a strike by toll barrier workers.
Taboubi reassured the protesters that they would never accept such arrests.
The UGTT, which has about a million members, shared the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize with three other civil society organizations for fostering national dialogue in the nation of roughly 12 million people.
More than 3,000 people, according to AFP journalists, attended the rally.
Taboubi criticized the president for pursuing a “violent discourse… that is dividing the country” and urged Saied to adopt “dialogue” and “democratic” practices.
As well as defending “the rights of migrants, regardless of their nationality or the color of their skin,” the UGTT leader did so.
He told the crowd, “Tunisia is a country of tolerance, no to racism.
Saied allegedly claimed without providing any supporting evidence that “a criminal plot” was underway “to change Tunisia’s demographic make-up” when he ordered officials to take “urgent measures” to address irregular migration.
In anticipation of a wave of violence following Saied’s remarks, 300 West African migrants living in Tunisia were preparing to be repatriated when the rally took place on Saturday.
In addition, Taboubi criticized talks between Tunisia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is battling crippling inflation and debt that accounts for about 80% of its GDP (GDP).
The IMF has offered Tunisia a bailout package worth nearly $2 billion, but any assistance is subject to a number of reform requirements.
The UGTT, according to Taboubi, is not aware of the “details of the proposals” put forth by the Tunisian government, but he emphasized that the union is vehemently opposed to any elimination of government subsidies on necessities like food and fuel.
