Thousands rally in Tunis calling for ‘fall of the regime’ 5 years since President Kais Saied suspended parliament.
Published On 26 Jul 2026
Thousands of Tunisians have rallied within the capital to demand the resignation of President Kais Saied, denouncing worsening dwelling circumstances, democratic backsliding and mismanagement of the state.
Crowds marched down Habib Bourguiba Avenue in central Tunis on Saturday because the nation marked 5 years since Saied declared a nationwide emergency, suspended parliament and later dissolved it so as to rule by decree.
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It’s the most recent in a run of current protests opposing crackdowns on dissent, a struggling economy and limits on press freedoms.
Saied’s opponents accused him of abusing emergency measures to institute a reversal of Tunisia’s hard-won democratic transition course of.
“We took to the streets today to hold the system of governance to account and to expose its failures, because it is our role as political and civil forces,” Wissam Sghaier, spokesman for the Jomhouri opposition social gathering, instructed Al Jazeera. “And to use popular Tunisian expressions: We are not tenants of this country, we are its owners.
“If for that reason they’re going to fabricate cases against us and accuse us, then when our friends and comrades are imprisoned today, prisons are welcome,” Sghaier continued. “We are ready to pay the price.”
The marchers set out from Republic Square and moved in direction of the Municipal Theatre bearing flags and banners rejecting the nationwide programme Saied calls the “July 25 path”.
Demonstrators referred to as for Saied to “leave”, chanted for “freedom, work and national dignity” and revived the decision “the people want the fall of the regime”.
These similar phrases as soon as rang out in the identical avenue in the beginning of Tunisia’s democratic revolution in 2011.
Many of the protesters carried indicators and chanted for the discharge of political prisoners, who’ve crammed Tunisia’s prisons since Saied seized emergency powers.
The name for protest started with Nafas, an umbrella initiative that brings collectively Tunisia’s opposition events and impartial figures opposed to Saied’s monopolisation of energy.
Imed al-Khamiri, spokesman for Tunisia’s Ennahdha social gathering, instructed Al Jazeera Arabic that the protests had expanded past conventional opposition events to embrace a wider circle of residents disaffected by the federal government’s dealing with of financial points and public providers.
Tunisia’s democratic transition started with the ousting of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January of 2011, after months of civil unrest. In the following years, Tunisia held its first free elections and adopted a brand new structure guaranteeing political freedoms.
Much of these features have since been undone. Since instituting rule by decree, Saied has dismissed dozens of judges, criminalised the unfold of media the federal government deems false and arrested main figures within the opposition.
Among essentially the most outstanding of these now jailed is Rached Ghannouchi, the 85-year-old former parliament speaker who performed a outstanding position in Tunisia’s reforms. Jailed for years, he was sentenced in June to life plus 30 years on “terrorism” fees. He reportedly suffers from deteriorating well being and recently fainted from the circumstances of imprisonment.
Saied maintains that his measures purpose to sort out corruption and forestall chaos, denying that any rights or freedoms have been curtailed.
