TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia has been grappling with protest movements sweeping across the country since last year. Some of these protests come in support of President Kais Saied’s decisions taken since suspending parliament on July 25, 2021 — and more recently dissolving it — a move he said should be followed by early parliamentary elections; while others oppose them and support the parties that reject them. Chief among these are the Islamist Ennahda party and the lef-wing Workers Party.

On April 17, dozens of people and representatives of human rights organizations staged a protest in Sfax governorate, southeast of the capital Tunis, as they denounced the deterioration of the Tunisians’ purchasing power and the inflation that resulted from what they labeled as the “July 25 coup.”

This coup, they say, has further worsened social conditions. The protesters said that Saied and his supporters seek to hold on to the centers of influence, establish a one-man rule and entrench open dictatorship.

A number of citizens as well as some representatives of parties and human rights organizations participated in another protest April 9 in Tunis, drawing a heavy security presence. The protest was held to commemorate Martyrs Day and to demand the “return of the constitutional path” in the country.