TUNIS — While July 25 is the anniversary of the true birth of Tunisia as an independent republic, this year the date saw widespread protests that climaxed with President Kais Saied suspending parliament and sacking key ministers, including the head of government.

Despite the weekend “lockdowns,” part of the ailing government’s desperate attempts to control the high infection rate of COVID-19 in Tunisia, currently the most infected country per capita in Africa according to the World Health Organization, Tunisia saw widespread demonstrations across the country. Protests ranged from Sidi Bouzid in the south, which was the birthplace of the 2011 popular uprising, to the country's north.

The most violent demonstration was in the southern city of Tozeur, once a glamorous holiday destination and now one of the remote disfavored regions suffering gross unemployment and financial privation. Videos circulating on social media saw angry men breaking into the Ennahda movement’s regional offices and rampaging through, breaking furniture and televisions. Distressing videos of clashes with police and excessive use of tear gas flooded Facebook. The most disturbing of all showed a male demonstrator in Kairouan waving the Tunisian flag being pushed from the top of a high building by an unknown man.

Rumors involving July 25 demonstrations had been circulating for weeks. Since 2011, December and January have been the traditional marching season, usually beginning Dec. 17, the anniversary of the day that fruit and vegetable stall holder Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire, demonstrating against the injustice served to him by a market official who denied him a permit and slapped him across the face. This famously ignited the Jasmine Revolution. Over time, however, it did not meet people's expectations. While there have been protest marches and angry young people rioted following the deeply unpopular 2018 finance bill, every movement and season of protest has fizzled into exhaustion and apathy.