Tunisian opposition demands president step down

TUNIS, Tunisia

The Tunisian National Salvation Front on Tuesday called on President Kais Saied to step down and pave the way for early general elections in the country.

The major opposition coalition said in a statement that Saied failed to "obtain popular endorsement for his coup project" and thus lost justification to remain in power.

The statement added that 75% of Tunisian registered voters did not vote in Monday's referendum on Saied's proposed constitution.

The director of the polling institute Sigma Conseil said only 25% of voters took part in the July 25 referendum on the new constitution.

Hassan Zargouni, speaking on Tunisian public television, said 92.3 % of participants voted in favor of the draft constitution.

The country's electoral board, however, said the voter turnout was 27.5% of the eligible voters.

Tunisia has been undergoing a severe political crisis since July 25, 2021, when Saied dismissed the government and suspended parliament.

Tunisian forces consider these measures as a "coup against the constitution," while others see them as a "correction of the course of the 2011 revolution," which overthrew then President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Saied, who began a five-year presidential term in 2019, believes his measures are necessary to save the country from what he called "imminent danger."

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar