Tunisian authorities arrested former judges, veteran politicians and the head of a major broadcaster, stepping up a crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied amid a worsening economic crisis.
(Bloomberg) — Tunisian authorities arrested former judges, veteran politicians and the head of a major broadcaster, stepping up a crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied amid a worsening economic crisis.
Those detained Monday night include Noureddine Boutar, who founded and heads independent radio station Mosaique FM, and Noureddine Bhiri, a former justice minister and lawmaker from the opposition Islamist Ennahda party. Khayam al-Turki, who in 2020 was touted as a potential prime minister, was arrested at the weekend.
The suppression came amid a growing vocal opposition to Saied as he prepares to swear in a new assembly after a parliamentary election that recorded one of the world’s lowest voter turnouts. The birthplace of the Arab Spring, Tunisia was once seen as a progressive democracy until Saied assumed sweeping powers and suspended a previous parliament in 2021, ostensibly to end corruption he said was causing economic strife.
There’s also frustration about a slide in living standards, with a fifth of the country now classed as impoverished and suffering recurring food shortages. Youth unemployment rose to 37.8% in 2022 and inflation is at a 30-year high.
The presidency did not immediately respond to a written request for a comment on the arrests.
Union Battle
The president is separately entangled in an intensifying battle with the powerful Tunisian General Labour Union, or UGTT, which has been organizing strikes in sectors such as mosques, highways and at the drinking-water utility. Authorities arrested some UGTT officials, including two leaders of the mosque workers chapter, for engaging in industrial action.
More tension may be in store after the UGTT accused the government of reneging on a wage-hike agreement for public-sector workers ahead of winning preliminary approval from the International Monetary Fund for a $1.9 billion bailout.
Progress toward securing the funding has stalled due to delays finalizing political and economic reforms that are conditions of the package, and are likely to cause further hardship.
Four political parties, including the secular Democratic Attayar, denounced the arrests as a “manipulation” of the public prosecution office and the police to “terrorize critics of the regime.”
The leader of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, or SNJT, Tunisia’s main press union, said Boutar was questioned over the editorial line of Mosaique FM.
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