Tunisia: democracy on hold?

During the legislative elections on the 29th of January, only one in ten Tunisians went to the polls. The citizens thus showed their rejection of the authoritarian policy of President Kaïs Saïed, who granted himself full powers in July 2021 and gave the country a new constitution. This new text deprives the Parliament of its independence, making these legislative elections a kind of staged democracy.

Tunisia is also in the midst of an economic crisis, with a 10% inflation and serious shortages of basic commodities. In the country that saw the birth of the Arab Spring thirteen years ago, President Saïed is stifling any protest: following the arrest of several political leaders, magistrates and opposition media figures in recent days, the UN is concerned about “the worsening of repression”.

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