Tunisia: Pro-Saied demonstration competes with counter-protest

Hundreds of supporters of Tunisian President Kais Saied demonstrated in Tunis Thursday, coinciding with the country's Republic Day, according to a report in Africanews. Saied, who has ruled by decree since suspending parliament in July 2021, announced his candidacy for the October presidential election last week.

"Today, July 25th, is a day for Kais Saied. We have come to support him," said Ali Khouja, a retiree from Ariana.

Republic Day commemorates Tunisia abolishing its monarchy and becoming a republic in 1957.

Simultaneously, families of political prisoners held by Saied's regime held their own protest, demanding the release of their loved ones. Ezzedine Hazgui, father of an imprisoned individual, criticized Saied for turning Republic Day into a day of sorrow.

The families also called for the repeal of Decree 54, under which over 60 journalists, lawyers, and opposition figures have been arrested since September 2022. Saied has defended his actions as necessary to extirpate corruption.