Tunisia protesters slam government, opposition’s ‘corruption, failure’

Hundreds of Tunisian protesters yesterday demanded the government step down following a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases, accusing both the government and the opposition of corruption and failing to meet the people’s demands.

Protesters tried to storm the offices of Ennahda, the biggest party in parliament, in Monastir, Sfax, El Kef and Sousse, while in Tozeur they set fire to the party’s headquarters.

In the capital, Tunis, police used pepper spray against the protesters who threw stones and shouted slogans demanding Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi step down and parliament be dissolved.

The protesters accused the opposition of siding with its own interests instead of the people’s demands.

Security authorities closed the capital, preventing cars coming from other cities from entry and blocked roads leading to parliament and the Habib Bourguiba Street in the centre of the capital.

Since January, Tunisia has been living in the midst of a political crisis between President Kais Saied and Mechichi over a cabinet reshuffle that Saied opposes.

The country has also been suffering from a crippling economic crisis exacerbated by the repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic. The number of COVID- 19 cases has recently spiked  amid warnings of an imminent collapse of the health system.

Saied yesterday sacked Mechichi and parliament and assumed executive authority of the government. While the army this morning prevented Parliament Speaker and head of Ennahda Rached Ghannouchi from entering Parliament.

READ: Tunisia’s exit from the crisis