Tunisia’s body politic is in crisis

What the report says

Al Jazeera published an opinion piece by scholar Larbi Sadiki arguing that Tunisia is facing a deepening political crisis as public-service breakdowns coincide with uncertainty and rumours about President Kais Saied’s health. The article says demonstrations in Tunis on July 25, 2026 — five years after Saied suspended parliament and assumed emergency powers — included protesters calling for him to leave office, reflecting growing public frustration.

According to the piece, electricity and water outages in parts of the country have lasted as long as two weeks during intense summer conditions, adding pressure on households already facing economic hardship. Sadiki links the unrest to longer-term weaknesses in state utilities, including the electricity and gas company STEG and water utility SONEDE, as well as debt problems among state-owned enterprises. The article also notes Tunisia’s slow progress on renewable-energy plans and continued dependence on imported fossil fuels, including Algerian gas.

The analysis places the current unrest in the context of Tunisia’s post-2011 political trajectory. It says Saied’s 2021 concentration of power and dismantling of democratic safeguards have not produced tangible improvements in living standards, while opposition to him should not automatically be read as support for the pre-2021 political class. The piece argues that official ambiguity over Saied’s health is especially destabilising because power is highly centralised in the presidency.

Sadiki also points to concerns over Tunisia’s human rights record and the condition of jailed opposition figures, including Rached Ghannouchi and Ahmed Nejib Chebbi. The article concludes that Tunisia’s immediate challenge is whether political leaders can reduce polarisation, address urgent economic reforms and restore a more inclusive democratic process.