Monitoring Desk
TUNIS: Opposition political parties and others angry at Tunisia’s economic crisis and the president’s increasingly authoritarian drift are planning to march through Tunis on Saturday to mark 12 years after Tunisian protesters unleashed Arab Spring uprisings across the region.
The protest move comes after disappointing parliamentary elections last month in which just 11 percent of voters cast ballots. The polls are meant to replace and reshape a legislature President Kais Saied dissolved in 2021. The second round has been set for January 29.
It also comes as Tunisia is going through a major economic crisis, with inflation and joblessness rising. In recent months, Tunisians have been hit with soaring food prices and shortages of fuel and basic staples like sugar, vegetable oil, and rice.
The head of the National Salvation Front, an alliance of five opposition parties, including the popular Islamist opposition party Ennahdha, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, said a large number of Tunisians are expected to take part in the protest march on Habib Bourguiba Avenue.
Tunisia’s govt appeals protesters to avoid violence
The Interior Ministry of Tunisia called on all groups authorized to organize protest demonstrations to respect the pre-set itinerary and timing and ensure no violence.
The ministry also urged demonstrators to respect restrictions and not to provoke clashes with security forces.
On January 14, 2011, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was forced out of government, transforming Tunisia into a budding democracy that inspired the Arab Spring. Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali died in 2019.
Saied, who was elected as president in 2019, has curbed the independence of the judiciary and weakened the powers of the parliament.
In July last year’s referendum, Tunisian voters approved a constitution that grants broad executive powers to the president. Saied, who spearheaded the move and wrote the constitutional text himself, made full use of the mandate in September, changing the electoral law to diminish the role of political parties.
In an apparent response to criticism, Saied paid a surprise visit to Bourguiba avenue on Friday and went through the capital’s historic district, the medina. He called for caution against “intruders and renegades” who could mix with protesters to provoke clashes.
The January 14 anniversary has been abolished as an official commemoration date by Saied, who instead declared December 17 as the “revolution day.”
Tunisia’s uprising began on December 17, 2010, when a desperate fruit vendor set himself on fire, unleashing pent-up anger and frustration among his compatriots, who staged protests that spread nationwide and led to the revolution.
![NEW YORK: Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, leading Pakistan’s high-level parliamentary delegation, on Tuesday warned that India's aggressive actions pose a serious threat to peace in South Asia and urged the international community to take note of India's aggressive conduct. Bilawal was addressing a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on recent regional developments after the military conflict between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation is in New York to present Pakistan’s stance on the military escalation with India and to challenge New Delhi’s narrative at the global level. The visit is part of Pakistan’s sustained diplomatic outreach to brief key UN stakeholders on the alarming regional situation. The Pakistani delegation is also scheduled to arrive in Washington today, where it plans to engage with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, other senior officials, lawmakers, and think tanks till June 6. The team will also visit London and Brussels. Speaking at the press conference, Bilawal said that he wanted to use the opportunity to share Pakistan’s perspective on the recent military conflict with India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack and the way forward. Bilawal said that the “illegal strikes” launched by India as part of its ‘Operation Sindoor’ were “in violation of the UN Charter, international law”. He said the attacks had targeted civilian infrastructure, places of worship, energy infrastructure and innocent women and children. He said India had used the April 22 terrorist attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam as a pretext to launch the attack inside Pakistan. Following the Pahalgam incident, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered publicly to India that Pakistan was ready to be part of any impartial international investigation into this attack. “We did so because we were confident, our hands were clean and we had nothing to do with this terrorist attack. “We expressed our sympathy with the victims of terrorism and Pakistan has consistently and unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said, adding that PM Sharif had immediately expressed Pakistan’s willingness to India and the global community to be part of any impartial international investigation. “Indian government refused Pakistan's offer and chose instead to conduct their illegal strikes. Pakistan only then acted in self-defence, we never initiated any violence against India,” Bilawal said. Bilawal emphasised that Pakistan never initiated hostilities against India but responded to Indian aggression by downing six Indian fighter jets. "The Pakistani military had responded with precision the night of the first Indian attack and only targeted and downed six planes because we believed those were the ones to release their load on Pakistan”. He stated that US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio played a vital role in achieving a ceasefire during heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours. “We’ve seen during the course of this conflict how quickly the escalation ladder between our two countries rose and the concern is that the next time there is such an incident, there may not be time for the international community to intervene before things get a lot worse. That is why it is absolutely important for Pakistan and the international community to continue to pursue dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable path to peace.” He said Pakistan’s position was to hold a “comprehensive dialogue” with India that would include the issue of terrorism as well. The head of the Pakistani delegation said that no civilized nation can support the use of water as a weapon and urged the international community to play its part, questioning, "What would be the global reaction if someone’s lifeline was cut off?" He stressed that Pakistan has paid a heavy price in the fight against terrorism and has suffered the most. “The single largest number of terrorist attacks that take place in any one country is Pakistan. The single largest number of victims of terrorism is Pakistan. I myself have suffered at the hands of terrorists. My mother [Benazir Bhutto] was assassinated by the terrorists.” Bilawal also criticised India for targeting water reservoirs and civilian areas, including mosques, during its attacks. Calling negotiations the only path to peace, Bilawal reiterated that the unresolved Kashmir dispute remains the root cause of regional instability. He urged the global community to take notice of India’s aggressive conduct.](https://wenewsenglish.com/storage/2025/06/Bilawal-Bhutto-Zardari-300x180.jpg)
