Five years after Saied’s power grab, Tunisia’s old grievances resurface

What the report says

Tunisia is facing renewed public frustration five years after President Kais Saied began ruling by decree in July 2021, according to Al Jazeera. The report says long-standing complaints about jobs, prices and public services are resurfacing alongside growing concern about tighter political controls. Protest slogans tied to the 2011 revolution, including demands for “employment, freedom and national dignity,” are being heard again as Tunisians contend with water cuts, electricity outages, medicine shortages and pressure on household incomes.

Al Jazeera reports that Saied’s power consolidation followed his suspension of parliament, dismissal of the prime minister and later dissolution of the legislature. It says the 2022 constitution strengthened presidential powers, while opposition figures, journalists, lawyers and activists have faced arrests or prosecutions that rights groups describe as politically motivated. The article also references the “conspiracy case,” in which Tunisian courts handed down lengthy prison terms in 2025 before an appeals court upheld most convictions later that year.

The piece argues that many of Tunisia’s economic problems predate Saied, including underinvestment and weak infrastructure, but says the public is increasingly judging his system on whether it can deliver better services. This summer’s extreme heat worsened electricity demand and water disruptions, deepening daily hardship in several regions.

Beyond the immediate shortages, the story places Tunisia in a broader post-2011 context: hopes for democratic change gave way to political instability, persistent unemployment and frustrated expectations. Al Jazeera says that shrinking civic space has made it harder for critics and journalists to challenge authorities, even as ordinary Tunisians revive demands first voiced during the revolution.