TUNIS: Tunisian police scuffled with protesters against President Kais Saied on Saturday as around 100 people demonstrated against a planned July referendum, a year after his power grab opponents describe as a coup.
The police blocked the protesters as they attempted to reach the headquarters of the electoral board whose chief Saied had replaced last month in a further move to extend his control of state institutions.
Some at the protest in the Tunisian capital, organized by five small political parties, held up placards reading “the president’s commission = fraud commission.”
Meanwhile, Tunisian judges will suspend work in courts for a week and hold a sit-in to protest against the president’s firing of dozens of judges, a judge said on Saturday.
Saied this week dismissed 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists in a purge of the judiciary — his latest step to tighten his grip on power in the North African country.
Judge Hammadi Rahmani said a judges meeting today voted unanimously to suspend work in all courts, and to start the sit-in.
Saied on July 25 sacked the government and suspended parliament, which he later dissolved in moves that sparked fears for the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring uprisings.
He has laid out plans for a referendum next month on a replacement for a 2014 constitution that had enshrined a mixed parliamentary-presidential system often plagued by deadlock and nepotism.
The president, who has also replaced the judicial supreme council and the electoral commission, has pledged to hold a referendum on July 25 to vote on a new constitution, and on Saturday talks over drawing this up started in Carthage.
Then last month he appointed former ISIE member Farouk Bouasker to replace Nabil Baffoun, a critic of his July power grab.
Saied’s opponents accuse him of moving toward and autocracy and putting in place a compliant electoral body ahead of the July referendum and parliamentary elections in December.
Many Tunisians however support his moves against a system they say has done little for their quality of life in the decade since a 2011 revolt that toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
(With AFP and Reuters)
Tunisia police block protests against Saied referendum
https://arab.news/nf76y
Tunisia police block protests against Saied referendum
- Dozens of opposition supporters were protesting against the start of talks over a new constitution in Tunis
- Tunisian judges will suspend work in courts for a week and hold a sit-in to protest
EU chief von der Leyen says Europe to do ‘everything it can’ to support Syria
- “Europe will do everything it can to support Syria’s recovery and reconstruction,” von der Leyen said
- A Syrian presidency statement said the two sides discussed cooperation, including on reconstruction
DAMASCUS: European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Europe would do everything possible to assist Syria’s recovery and reconstruction, after meeting President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Friday in Damascus.
Von der Leyen, the highest-ranking EU official to visit since longtime ruler Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024, is on a regional tour alongside Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council.
Their visit comes as days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have rocked the north Syrian city of Aleppo.
“Europe will do everything it can to support Syria’s recovery and reconstruction,” von der Leyen said on X.
A Syrian presidency statement said the two sides discussed cooperation, including on reconstruction, as well as “humanitarian matters and the refugee issue in Europe.”
On Thursday, a joint EU-Jordan statement issued on the eve of the EU leaders’ arrival in Damascus said that “we will continue working together in support of a peaceful and inclusive Syrian-led and Syrian-owned transition.”
Syria is struggling to forge a new path after years of war sparked by a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011.
Sharaa, who is seeking to extend state authority across the whole country, has come under pressure to protect Syria’s many minority communities, including the Kurds.
Several EU officials have visited Syria since Assad’s ouster by Sharaa’s forces more than a year ago, and the EU has removed economic sanctions in place under Assad.
In March, the EU pledged nearly 2.5 billion euros in aid for Syria for 2025 and 2026.
Von der Leyen and Costa were also visiting Lebanon on Friday.
