There were several hundred people on Friday evening in the streets of Tunis, the Tunisian capital, to protest against the head of state. During the vote to be held on Sunday, Kaïs Saïed will only face two opponents, one of whom is in prison. The opposition and civil society accuse him of having rigged the game for his benefit.
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“That’s 13 years that we have a certain freedom of expression and then everything falls apart. We’re a little disappointed.” explains a woman who took part in a demonstration on Friday October 4 in Tunis against the president, Kaïs Saïed. “It’s worse than Ben Ali [ancien président de la Tunisie]another woman loses her temper, because Ben Ali had the cover of dictator. Kaïs Saïed plays the democratic populist who defends the people. And people are fooled. They don’t see all the legal violations he’s doing.”
According to Human Rights Watch, “more than 170 people” are currently detained for political reasons in Tunisia. Journalists, NGOs and citizens find themselves accused of terrorist plot or endangering state security. Issa is from the family of lawyer Sonia Dahmani, sentenced in September to eight months for an insolent retort on a TV set. “In all, she had five cases. Today, she has just been indicted for a sixth, for having said out loud what Tunisians do not dare to say” explains Issa.
Kaïs Sayed also drew a blank among his political adversaries. In the procession, supporters of Abir Moussi, arrested the day she came to submit her candidacy for the presidential election. “She’s been in prison ever since. It’s been a year on the 3rd October 2023″says a demonstrator. “I don’t know how the West, the democracies, can accept this”asks a man. Using a megaphone, a somewhat tense police officer dissuades the demonstrators from changing their route to pass in front of the Ministry of the Interior.
The crowd of defenders of the rule of law is mainly made up of higher professions, like this lawyer. “Concepts like democracy, alternation, responsibility, freedom are new notions for the Tunisian. So I consider that it is a transitional period. It takes maturity, it takes time”he believes. “You have to start somewhere, supports a young woman. If no one does anything, it won’t change. So we might as well try.” “Through demonstrations like this, we hope to change things. We will get there”concludes a demonstrator.