Tunisia: meeting of civil society movement banned

The leader of Citizens against the Coup, Habib Bouajila, announced on Sunday that the Tunisian authorities have intervened to prevent the movement from holding a meeting in Hammamet in the north east of the country.

According to Bouajila, the security services have put pressure on the owner of a conference facility in the town to prevent campaigners from holding a political seminar that was supposed to be held on Sunday. “The security services threatened that they would close the hall permanently if the owner allowed Citizens against the Coup to hold the meeting,” he explained.

Bouajila pointed out that members of the civil society campaign group were planning to discuss some important political and economic issues. “The seminar was supposed to be attended by a number of prominent political figures, such as Samira Chaouachi, the deputy speaker of the suspended parliament, as well as the head of the political wing of the Hope Party, Ahmed Najib Chebbi.”

The Citizens against the Coup initiative was formed last September by independent activists from different ideological backgrounds who oppose President Kais Saied. The group presented a roadmap proposal to end the political crisis in Tunisia, which included the holding of early presidential and parliamentary elections in the second half of this year.

Tunisia has been suffering a political crisis since July last year, when Saied has imposed his “exceptional” measures, including the suspension of parliament, issuing legislation by presidential decrees, dismissing the prime minister and appointing a new government. The majority of political forces in the country reject these measures, and regard them as a coup against the constitution and democracy.

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