Tunisia’s parliament convenes for first time since 2021
March 13, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia's new parliament convened Monday, the first time the country has had a functioning legislature since the president had the previous parliament sealed off by the army in 2021.
Facing uproar, Tunisian president denies he’s stoking racism
March 9, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s president has rejected accusations that he is stoking anti-Black racism, saying that he has sub-Saharan African friends and that his comments last month targeting migrants were misinterpreted by his enemies.
Tunisia offers new measures for migrants after racist abuse
March 6, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s government is seeking to allay growing international concerns about a surge of discrimination against sub-Saharan Africans, as the EU warned Monday against hate speech targeting people fleeing conflict and poverty.
Tunisians protest inflation, president’s squeeze on dissent
March 4, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Thousands of people marched through Tunisia's capital Saturday, decrying an expanding crackdown on opposition voices and a proposed lifting of subsidies for food and other goods.
Hundreds of protesters denounce racism in Tunisia
February 25, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Hundreds of protesters in Tunisia's capital took to the streets on Saturday to denounce racism and express solidarity towards migrants after the country's increasingly authoritarian leader claimed there’s a plot to erase his country’s identity by bringing in sub-Saharan Africans.
Amid crackdown on dissent, Tunisian leader turns on migrants
February 23, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian authorities on Thursday said they have arrested dozens of migrants near the Algerian border, two days after Tunisia's increasingly authoritarian leader claimed there's a plot to erase his country's identity by bringing in sub-Saharan Africans.
Tunisia orders top European trade union official expelled
February 20, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — President Kais Saied of Tunisia ordered Europe's top trade union official to leave the North African country after she addressed protesters at a demonstration organized by an influential labor union.
Tunisian Islamist leader arrested in crackdown on opposition
February 14, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian authorities arrested the leader of the Ennahda opposition Islamist movement in a crackdown on rival politicians and critics of the North African country's increasingly authoritarian president Kais Saied, lawyers said Tuesday.
Tunisian voters shun elections seen as test for democracy
January 29, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Voters in Tunisia massively shunned parliamentary elections seen as an important test for their president and their country's troubled democracy, according to preliminary turnout figures Sunday.
Challenge for Tunisian democracy: Getting voters to show up
January 28, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia was once the Arab world’s hope for a new era of democracy. Now it’s in the midst of an election that’s more of an embarrassment than a model.
Barely 11% of voters turned out in the first round of parliamentary elections last month, boycotted by opposition Islamists and ignored by many Tunisians disillusioned with their leaders.
Thousands protest in Tunisia against president’s rule
January 14, 2023 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Thousands of protesters angry at Tunisia’s economic crisis and the president’s increasingly authoritarian drift marched on Saturday through the capital, responding to a call from opposition parties to mark 12 years since Tunisian protesters unleashed Arab Spring uprisings around the region.
Tunisian Islamist party protests arrest of senior leader
December 23, 2022 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Supporters of the Tunisian Islamist movement Ennahda demonstrated on Friday in front of the Justice Ministry in the capital to denounce the arrest of one of its senior leaders, suspected of being involved in sending Tunisians to fight with extremists in Syria.
Tunisia judge orders opposition top official’s imprisonment
December 20, 2022 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — An anti-terrorism judge in Tunisia has ordered the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Ali Larayedh, vice-president of the popular Islamist opposition party Ennahdha, days after the country held a legislative election marked by a very low turnout.
Tunisian president urged to resign after election debacle
December 18, 2022 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian opposition figures called Sunday for the president’s resignation after disastrous parliamentary elections in which less than 9% of voters cast ballots.
The mass voter disavowal was a dramatic development for the country that was the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings against autocratic leaders a decade ago — and the only one to emerge from that upheaval with a democratic political system.
Low turnout in Tunisia parliament vote amid economic vows
December 17, 2022 GMTTUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisians on Saturday voted to elect a new parliament, to the backdrop of a soaring cost-of-living crisis and concerns of democracy backsliding in the North African country — the cradle of Arab Spring protests a decade ago.