Tunisia Protest Marks Two Years Since President's Power Grab

Around 300 protesters rallied in Tunis Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of President Kais Saied's adoption of sweeping powers, and to demand the release of about 20 detained opposition figures.

"Down with the coup, freedom for all the prisoners," the protesters chanted.

Addressing the crowd that gathered in the heart of the capital, braving temperatures that topped 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), veteran politician Ahmed Nejib Chebbi denounced a "total failure" of Saied in managing the state.

Chebi, who heads Tunisia's main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front which organised the rally, said the president's leadership had worsened the state of Tunisia's economy.

On Tuesday afternoon, Saied went out to meet citizens in central Tunis, visiting a popular market in the old city as well as Bourguiba Avenue -- the site of many protests against him.

The president avoided talk of his opponents, and when asked by merchants about recurring water and electricity cuts, he said they were due to "exceptional heat this summer".

The opposition has kept up its protests against Saied's July 2021 move sacking the government and suspending parliament, despite the arrest since February this year of more than 20 opposition, media and business figures on charges of "conspiracy against state security".

Writer Chaima Issa and former minister Lazhar Akremi were released earlier this month but the others remain in custody.

Among them is Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party which was the largest bloc in parliament before Saied's power grab. He is serving a one-year prison sentence on terrorism-related charges.

During Tuesday's protest, Ennahdha spokesman Imed Khemiri denounced "the return of a policy of intimidation... which restricts freedom of expression and impacts the media".

Rights groups have condemned a "witch hunt" aimed at repressing freedom of opinion in the North African country which had been the sole democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

After his initial moves two years ago, Saied has ruled by decree and last year rammed through a constitution that gave his office unlimited powers and neutered parliament.

"Decree by decree, blow by blow, President Saied and his government have dramatically undermined respect for human rights in Tunisia since his power grab in July 2021," Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director, Heba Morayef, said in a statement.

"In doing so, he has stripped away basic freedoms that Tunisians fought hard to earn and fostered a climate of repression and impunity."

Saied, a former constitutional law lecturer, was elected in 2019 for a five-year term.