Analysts declare Tunisia’s democratic era over as President Saied jails opponents, with recent mass trials and protests marking a stark political reversal
PARIS: Fifteen years after its revolution sparked the Arab Spring, analysts say Tunisia’s democracy is being buried by President Kais Saied.
Saied, elected in a 2019 landslide, began rolling back freedoms after a 2021 power grab, jailing opponents and suing activists.
“Unfortunately, we have gone from a dysfunctional democracy to an equally dysfunctional authoritarian regime,” said Hamza Meddeb, a fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center.
Meddeb was sentenced in absentia to 33 years in prison last month in a mass appeal trial that upheld sentences for about 40 public figures.
Rights groups condemned the trial as politically motivated.
Three convicts were immediately arrested, including 81-year-old opposition co-founder Ahmed Nejib Chebbi.
His daughter said his 12-year jail term “amounts to a death sentence”.
Lawyer Ayachi Hammami and poet Chaima Issa, also convicted, began a hunger strike.
The opposition accuses Saied of stifling dissent, while he says he does not interfere in judicial matters.
Saied has branded detained opponents “terrorists” and humanitarian workers “traitors”.
Most main opposition figures are now detained or in exile.
Jailed leaders include Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old head of the Ennahdha party, who received a 22-year sentence.
Another figure, Abir Moussi, received an additional 12-year sentence on Friday for allegedly plotting to change the government.
Demonstrators protested her sentencing in Tunis on Saturday, chanting “Freedom for the prisoners”.
Journalist Zied Krichen said the convictions “undoubtedly sound the death knell” for Tunisia’s post-revolution democratic experiment.
Saied, a former law professor, won re-election in 2024 with over 90% of the vote, though turnout was below 30%.
His new constitution granted his office unlimited powers and neutered the legislature.
Meddeb said Saied has failed to solve the country’s problems, which have worsened.
The recent release of two other convicts does not signal a detente, according to Meddeb.
He believes the government is engaging in a more “selective” repression phase targeting the political opposition.
The divided opposition is attempting to form a united front, with regular demonstrations struggling to attract wider public support. – AFP
