September 19, 2023

The Unwanted

Tunisian authorities expelled hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants from the port city of Sfax this week, part of a government crackdown on illegal migration amid racial tensions in the North African country, Agence France-Presse reported. Non-governmental organizations said security forces rounded up around 500 migrants and...

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April 19, 2023

Total Recall

Tunisian authorities closed the headquarters of the opposition party Ennahdha Tuesday, a day after its leader was arrested in what government critics have described as efforts by President Kais Saied to quash dissent, Al Jazeera reported. Party representatives said police raided Ennahdha’s building and ordered its...

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March 13, 2023

The Heavy Thumb

Tunisian President Kais Saied dissolved the country’s municipal councils this week, a move critics say is another step toward dismantling the North African country’s democratic gains following the 2011 revolution, Africanews reported. The dissolution has come more than a month before the mandates of 350 mayors...

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December 16, 2022

White Noise

The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) recently attacked Tunisian President Kais Saied in the run-up to parliamentary elections on Dec. 17, raising the prospect of the union’s million-plus members going on strike and/or boycotting the polls. Already over the weekend, hundreds took to the streets in...

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August 01, 2022

The Backstroke

Tunisian judges said they would continue their hunger strike against President Kais Saied’s controversial decision to dismiss them in what many observers call a rare act of protest for any judge anywhere in the world, the Washington Post reported Saturday. In June, Saied issued a decree...

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July 06, 2022

Means and Ends

Tunisian President Kais Saied presented a draft this week of a new constitution that would greatly expand his presidential powers, with critics and civil groups warning that it would slide the country back into authoritarianism, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. The draft document will give the...

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June 24, 2022

Second Spring

Commerce and public services ground to a halt in Tunisia recently as the country’s massive Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) went on strike to protest President Kais Saied’s economic plan. Saied has proposed wage freezes, subsidy cuts and other steps that the International Monetary Fund requires...

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June 17, 2022

Bread and Roses

Tunisia’s main trade union bloc launched a nationwide strike Thursday shutting down the country, and adding pressure to the already embattled president amid an ongoing political and economic crisis, Agence France-Presse reported. The UGTT confederation called on three million public sector workers to walk off their...

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May 04, 2022

The Rejects

Tunisian President Kais Saied launched a “national dialogue” this week to resolve the country’s political crisis following his controversial power grab last year even as he has excluded the opposition groups from participating, Agence France-Presse reported. The president said a commission will oversee “the national dialogue,”...

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April 01, 2022

Wearing Thin

Tunisian President Kais Saied dissolved parliament this week after lawmakers held an online session to repeal decrees that he used last year to assume near-total power, Reuters reported Thursday. More than half of all legislators took part in an online parliamentary session Wednesday, the first since...

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March 17, 2022

Stifled Spring

Tunisian President Kais Saied recently extended his North African country’s state of emergency through the end of the year. The emergency order has been in effect since 2015 following a terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of several presidential guards. As Turkey's Anadolu Agency...

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