Thousands protest in Tunisia to call for ending ‘coup’

TUNIS, Tunisia

Thousands of Tunisians demonstrated in the capital Tunis on Saturday to call for ending the “coup” in the North African country.

Opponents of Tunisian President Kais Saied accuse him of staging a “coup” by dissolving the country’s parliament last year and assuming executive power.

Saturday’s protest was organized by the National Salvation Front, a coalition of five Tunisian parties opposing Saied.

“A year and a half since the coup, Tunisians only saw poverty, unemployment, high cost of living and a shortage of basic commodities,” Ahmed Najib Chebbi, head of the National Salvation Front, told protesters.

“The putschist failed and became isolated without any support at home or abroad,” he said, referring to the Tunisian president.

Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters of the Free Destourian Party staged a rally in the capital to call for toppling the Tunisian leader.

Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis that aggravated the country's economic conditions since last year, when Saied ousted the government and dissolved parliament.

While Saied insists that his measures were meant to "save" the country, critics have accused him of orchestrating a coup.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar