Since his coup on July 25, anger has been brewing.

More than two thousand people demonstrated, Sunday, March 20, in Tunis, against President Kaïs Saïed and his online consultation organized for important political reforms.

"Down with the coup!", "The people want to dismiss the president", "No to the consultation!", chanted the demonstrators, on this Independence Day.

They gathered at the call of the Citizens Against the Coup movement and the Islamo-conservative Ennahda party, according to AFP journalists on the spot.

The coup by President Saïed, who assumed full powers on July 25 and has since governed the country by decree, was, from the start, described as a "coup d'etat" by his opponents.

Several protesters are disappointed Kaïs Saïed voters, such as Mounira Bouazizi, a human rights blogger who voted for him in 2019.

"I thought he believed in democracy and the achievements of the Revolution and he did just the opposite," she told AFP.

"You can't call it a democratic process. Today, the people are divided between pro and anti-Kaïs Saïed, it harms freedoms and democracy," said Mohammed, a retiree. 

Waving Tunisian flags, the protesters marched towards Parliament, in the Bardo district, but were blocked by a large police force.

"We will not accept the results of the consultation, this scam against the people", launched to the crowd Samira Chaouachi, vice-president of the Assembly of the representatives of the people, the Parliament frozen since July 25.

A few hours before its closing on Sunday, the electronic consultation, launched on January 15 by the president, recorded only 508,000 participants, less than 10% of the electorate (7.07 million), according to official statistics.

 "Save the Country"

The answers must serve as the basis for political reforms that will be worked out by a commission of experts appointed by the president.

A referendum must then be organized in July on amendments to the Constitution that Kais Saïed wants to make more "presidential", before new legislative elections scheduled for mid-December.

"Our condolences for the consultation, President Saïed", mocked the crowd of demonstrators.

The Head of State attributed the failure of his vast survey to "technical obstacles" and "attempts by the old system to abort this experience", in reference to Ennahda.

"We want early presidential and legislative elections. We are in the midst of a political crisis and we must have a political dialogue that will save the country," Yamina Zoghlami, a member of Ennahda, told AFP, saying she feared "a Lebanese scenario " for his highly indebted country, which has requested new IMF aid.

The demonstrators also demanded the release of the former president of the bar association Abderrazek Kilani, arrested at the beginning of March on the orders of the military justice system for "disturbing public order with the intention of opposing the application of the law".

A respected figure in Tunisia, Abderrazek Kilani is a member of the defense committee of Ennahda number two Noureddine Bhiri, who is also being prosecuted.

With AFP

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