Tunisia: Protesters Defy Ban, Demand Democracy and Freedom Despite Crackdown on Opposition

Despite the ban, a demonstration took place on Saturday, April 29, in downtown Tunis. Opponents of President Saied denounce “a dictatorship”. Filling the stairs leading to the National Theater is a sign of a successful demonstration. On Saturday, April 29, they were only half full, at the call of the National Salvation Front. It was the first gathering since the arrest on April 17 of Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi, the former president of parliament. In the aftermath, President Kais Saied closed opposition political party offices, which drew strong international criticism.

The NSG, the main opposition force, has not been allowed to organize activities since that date. Its leader Ahmed Chebbi is therefore pleased with the event: “A few hundred, 200 or 250 people, are enough. We are here to maintain the flame and raise it very high. And we are convinced that democracy and freedom will win, because that’s the nature of things.” “We made the revolution of 2011, so we’re not afraid now. We can’t go back to the previous years. Down with dictatorship!” The police, mostly in plain clothes, do not flinch at the 79-year-old opponent’s diatribe. Passers-by barely pause at the small group of protesters. 50 minutes after the start of the gathering, the security forces dispersed the demonstrators…

On Saturday, April 29, Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, witnessed a rare event – a demonstration, despite the ban announced by the country’s Interior Ministry. The demonstration was organized by the National Salvation Front, the country’s main opposition movement. Several hundred protesters met in downtown Tunis, holding banners calling for democracy and the preservation of the country’s fledgling democratic institutions. The demonstration was the first major public protest since President Kais Saied declared a state of emergency on April 17, arresting opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi.

As the protesters gathered, they chanted slogans calling for democracy, justice, and freedom. The demonstration was peaceful, and the protesters marched through the city streets without incident. The protesters demanded the lifting of the state of emergency; the reopening of the offices of opposition parties, including the National Salvation Front; the release of all political prisoners; and the restoration of democratic institutions.

Amid tight security, police deployed in large numbers to prevent the demonstration from turning violent, and quickly dispersed the protesters.

The protest came after a series of moves by President Saied that his critics say mark a slide towards authoritarianism. Saied declared a state of emergency on April 17 and has since shut down offices of opposition political parties, along with NGOs, trade unions, and media outlets.

His crackdown on opposition figures has prompted condemnation from international organizations, including the United Nations and the European Union, as well as Tunisia’s own national bar association.

The National Bar Association said in a statement on Friday that the government was using the state of emergency to carry out “indiscriminate and unjustified judicial arrests,” and that this had led to a “dangerous deterioration of the human rights situation.”

Many Tunisians feel that the country’s democratic experiment is under threat, and that the gains made since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali are in danger of being rolled back.

Saturday’s protest was a rare moment of defiance in a country that has long prided itself on its relative political openness and freedoms. At the same time, it was a sign of the growing frustration and anger of many Tunisians who feel that their voices are not being heard by those in power.

Despite the ban, the protesters say they will continue to demand their rights and will not back down until they see progress on the issues that matter to them – democracy, freedom, and justice.

Tunisia’s government, for its part, has remained defiant, insisting that it will not allow those who seek to undermine the country’s security and stability to succeed. It has vowed to take all necessary measures to restore law and order, and to protect the country’s democratic institutions.

But as the protests continue, many Tunisians are left wondering whether their government is really committed to preserving the country’s fledgling democracy, or whether it is simply seeking to consolidate its own power at their expense.