They demonstrated on Bourguiba Street despite the restrictions.. Thousands of Tunisians are calling for the departure of Qais Said on the anniversary of the revolution

Thousands of Tunisians took part in demonstrations calling for the departure of President Kais Saied, today, Saturday, on the anniversary of the revolution, and the Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the march of the opposition National Salvation Front defied the imposed restrictions and entered Habib Bourguiba Street in the center of the capital.

Avenue Habib Bourguiba, the traditional site of major demonstrations in the capital, was filled with thousands of protesters waving Tunisian flags, chanting "The people want the fall of the regime."

The demonstrators bypassed lines of policemen and metal barriers to reach the street, defying the measures imposed by the authorities.

However, Al-Jazeera correspondent Maysa Al-Ftanassi later reported that the security forces in the vicinity of the Ministry of Interior prevented the demonstrators from advancing on Habib Bourguiba Street.

For his part, the head of the National Salvation Front, Ahmed Najib Chebbi, called on the masses of Tunisians to unite around one goal, which is the departure of President Said.

He said, "The salvation of our country will be achieved with the departure of Qais Saeed."

The National Salvation Front - which was formed on May 31 - includes 5 parties, which are Ennahda, the Heart of Tunisia, the Dignity Coalition, the Tunisian Movement of Irada and Amal, in addition to the "Citizens Against the Coup" movement and a number of parliamentarians.

In the same context, the Secretary-General of the Tunisian Labor Party, Hamma Hammami, said, "The dictatorship of Qais Said will fall, just as the dictatorship of Ben Ali fell."

He added that whoever shuts mouths will be destined for imprisonment or flight from the country, calling for the adoption of "the language of struggle and resistance to overthrow the tyrannical system," because it is the only language that can be used with Qais Saeed, as he put it.

In conjunction with the twelfth anniversary of the Tunisian revolution.. Demonstrators enter Habib Bourguiba Street, in defiance of the authorities' decision to determine the course of the demonstration and in protest against the policies of the President # Qais_Said pic.twitter.com/TmGWcZ0M21

- Al-Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) January 14, 2023

"national battle"

For its part, the Tunisian General Labor Union (the largest labor union in the country) called for preparations for what it called a "national battle to save Tunisia."

The Secretary-General of the Union, Noureddine Al-Taboubi, announced the implementation of sectoral union movements in the coming days for social demands.

He said - in a symposium under the slogan "Trade unionists are recruited to save Tunisia" - that the Labor Union defends freedoms and opposes repression, and that everyone has the right to demonstrate in the street, indicating that what he called the populist tide is unable to advance in Tunisia, and that a third option is necessary.

He added that civil society and national organizations tell the ruler not to tamper with the country, as he put it.

#Live - On the 12th anniversary of the Tunisian revolution... Protesters enter Habib Bourguiba Street in defiance of the authorities' decision https://t.co/d3j2r8Hp81

- Al-Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) January 14, 2023

narrowings

Amid reports of restrictions on demonstrators, human rights sources said that the authorities prevented the arrival of a bus and a passenger train to the capital.

At the same time, the local radio "Mosaique" said that the head of the Free Destourian Party, Abeer Moussa, withdrew with her supporters from Khair al-Din Pasha Street in the Montplaisir region, after the security forces stopped the progress of their march, which was going to Carthage Palace.

For its part, the "Coordination of Democratic Parties" in Tunisia expressed its refusal to restrict the protests, and called for taking to the streets despite what it described as intimidating the authorities.

Before the start of the demonstrations, the leader of the National Salvation Front, Jawhar Ben Mubarak, accused what he described as the coup authority of systematically obstructing the movement of demonstrators from several regions such as Djerba and Gabes (south) and Mahdia (east) to the capital to participate in the protests on Bourguiba Street.

Bin Mubarak said - in a post on his official Facebook page - that the security threatened the owners of means of transportation and forced them to cancel the trips.

Since July 25, 2021, Tunisia has been living with a series of exceptional measures taken by President Said, including the dissolution of Parliament and the Judicial Council, the issuance of legislation by presidential decrees, the passage of a new constitution, and the holding of early legislative elections, in which only 11.2% of the electorate participated.

Most of the political and civil forces in Tunisia reject these measures, and some describe them as a coup against the constitution, while other forces support them and see them as a correction of the course of the revolution that overthrew the rule of the late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on this day in 2011.