Thousands rally against Tunisia president’s power grab

TUNIS, Tunisia

Thousands of Tunisians demonstrated in the capital Tunis on Sunday against power seizure by the country’s president, Kais Saied.

Demonstrators gathered in the Hayreddin Pasha Street and marched towards the Habib Bourguiba Avenue amid a heavy security presence, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

“Constitution, Freedom, National Dignity” reads a banner waved by protesters, amid calls for the release of activists and journalists held by the authorities.

"We are only against the coup, not against our people,” Jawhar bin Mubarak, spokesman for a protest movement known as Citizens Against Coup, which called Sunday’s protests.

“We invite our people to join us and our people will not be divided," he said. “Reform can't be introduced under the sound of tanks and coups."

On July 25, Saied ousted the government, suspended parliament, and assumed executive authority. While he insists that his "exceptional measures" are meant to "save" the country, critics accuse him of orchestrating a coup.

The majority of parties in Tunisia reject Saied’s power seizure, with some accusing him of orchestrating a coup against the constitution. Other parties, however, think Saied’s decisions are correct in light of the political, economic, and health crises the North African country is facing.

Tunisia has been seen as the only country that succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition among Arab countries which witnessed popular revolutions toppling ruling regimes, including Egypt, Libya, and Yemen.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara