Yosra Ounas
February 18, 2023•Update: February 18, 2023
TUNIS, Tunisia
Hundreds of Tunisians demonstrated on Saturday against deteriorating economic conditions in the North African country.
The protests took place in nine provinces upon an invitation from Tunisia’s powerful trade union UGTT.
"The UGTT is the latest rampart to defend Tunisian democracy. President [Kais] Saied's authoritarian crackdown against trade unionists will not be allowed to succeed," Esther Lynch, Secretary-General of the European Trade Union Confederation, told a rally in Sfax in southern Tunisia.
Lynch said she took part in the protest to stand by her Tunisian counterparts in defending their trade union action and to protest against arrests of Tunisian activists.
"The UGTT has an important role to play in helping Tunisians come through this crisis," she added.
UGTT Assistant Secretary-General Sami Al-Tahri, for his part, said the protests aim to defend their trade union right.
"These moves come to address several files, such as lifting subsidies, high prices, and impoverishing the people,” he said.
"There is no way out of the impasse the country is going through except through dialogue, and there is no room for individual rule in Tunisia,” he added.
Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis that aggravated the country's economy since 2021 when Saied ousted the government and dissolved parliament.
Since then, Saied held a referendum to draft a new Constitution last July and parliamentary elections last December.
While he insists that his measures were meant to "save" the country, critics have accused the Tunisian leader of orchestrating a coup.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar
