'The people want a President to be removed from office!

Several thousand demonstrators gathered in central Tunis on Sunday to protest President Ka s Saied's recent consolidation of power which his critics call a coup. The protest reflected an increasingly visible rift in Tunisian society over the president's actions. Police presence was reported for the demonstration, and scuffles were reported on the sidelines as protesters attempted to overcome barriers erected on Bourguiba Avenue, the city's main thoroughfare. A journalist for state television was hospitalised after being hit by angry protesters with rocks and water bottles.

Saied abruptly froze the prime minister, replaced him with all powers and froze the parliament after nationwide antigovernment protests on July 25. He said he was seeking to save the country from a deteriorating economic, political and heath crisis. The last month he suspended himself the power to rule by decree and partially gave up the 2014 Constitution.

Saied's actions have proved popular among many who see him as a political fightman taking on the country's much-hated corruption elites. But others are concerned his actions signal a return to the autocracy Tunisians revolted against in 2011 and ignited what would be known as the Arab Spring.

In recent weeks, thousands of Tunisians have staged tit-for-tat demonstrations each weekend. This Sunday the crowd was predominantly composed of middle-aged men and women, many of them supporters of Tunisia s Islamist parties which have been blocked by Saied s measures.

The future in Tunisia is really frightening to me. For now, we don t know what we will become institutions. We don t have democracy, we don t have parliament in this country, she said.

The people want a President to be removed from office! Read several placards. referring to Saied's speech on Saturday in which he called the Sunday demonstrators insects and devils. Demonstrator Gharbi Rebha said she was worried about Saied's divisive rhetoric and said that the president should encourage his people to unite rather than fight each other.

Rebha voted for Saied in the 2019 elections that saw him win by a landslide and feels now betrayed

I worked to convince my neighborhood to vote for him I told them that you should vote for Saied, he s clean, this one is better. In a dream you can't imagine what I did for him, I even canvassed at night for him? When he won, I brought cakes to my neighbors. In contrast to Saied, demonstration Mohammed Souhail, a 63 year-old engineer, called for mass civil disobedience to counter militant's consolidation of power.

Khaled Lahyouni, spokesperson of the Interior ministry, said the heavy security presence was aimed at ensuring the safety of demonstrators. Saied, an anchor at Al Zitouna TV channel, was arrested last week after he criticized Amer Ayed and recited an anti-dictatorship poem on air. A military investigation has him charged with plotting against state security and committing a heinous act against the president of the republic, among other charges.

The civil service also had its equipment confiscated by the authorities. Tunisia's communication authority, HAICA, says this was because the channel was illegally operating without a license.