Tunisia's 2021 power shift reignites old protests over jobs and services

Across Tunisia, from the north to the interior, protests have resurfaced under the banner “employment, freedom and national dignity,” reflecting frustration over water rationing, electricity outages, rising costs and drug shortages. President Kais Saied, who in July 2021 suspended the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and later consolidated power through a new constitution, initially gained support as an outsider promising reform.

Yet five years on, the economy remains weak, with unemployment still high and public services faltering, especially during extreme heat that pushed temperatures near 50 °C and forced rotating power cuts by the Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas. Human Rights Watch and other groups have condemned the 2025 “conspiracy case” verdicts, viewing them as politically motivated repression that has stifled journalists, lawyers and civil-society activists.

Figures such as journalist Manel Derbali note that the open public sphere of the post-Ben Ali era has largely vanished, while the Nafas movement seeks to unite new and old opposition forces. The unrest underscores how lingering economic hardship and shrinking democratic space are now intertwined under Saied’s centralized rule.