Unions and organisations call for Tunisian day of anger

Protests against inequality and police abuses have been building amid the country's political deadlock

Police officers stand guard as demonstrators take part in an anti-government protest in Tunis, Tunisia, January 23, 2021. Reuters

National organisations and unions have called on the Tunisian people to make Tuesday a day of anger.

Protests are proposed outside the Assembly of the Representatives of the People in Bardo, near Tunis, to express an outright rejection of the “government’s security approach in dealing with popular protests that saw hundreds of youths arrested," according to a joint statement released on Monday by Tunisia's civil society organisations.

Despite growing malcontent, Tunisia's president indicated on Monday he would reject an expected cabinet reshuffle, escalating a dispute with the prime minister as a political logjam undermines efforts to tackle the pandemic and its economic fallout.

Kais Saied said the reshuffle would be unconstitutional on procedural grounds, condemned the absence of women among the prospective new ministers, and said that some likely new cabinet members may have conflicts of interest - although didn't give details.

The Democratic bloc MP, Zouhair Maghzaoui, said his parliamentary group will not give a vote of confidence to the ministers proposed in the cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi earlier in January.

The political paralysis comes as the Covid-19 crisis weakens an already battered economy that shrank more than 8 per cent last year, and as both foreign lenders and Tunisia's powerful unions urge fast reforms.

Tunisia has been all but deadlocked politically since two separate elections in 2019 put Mr Saied into office but left a deeply fragmented parliament in which no party held more than a quarter of the seats.

The Tunisian constitution, established in 2014 on the back of the 2011 revolution, gives parliament the main voice in forming a government - but the president also has a role in a complex system of approvals and vetoes.

It took several months after the election for a government to form early last year, but it only lasted until the summer before falling in a scandal as the pandemic took hold.

Mr Saied then proposed Hichem Mechichi as prime minister but fell out with him soon afterwards despite the successful formation of a government that narrowly won parliamentary backing.

Mr Mechichi is expected to unveil his proposed cabinet this week.

The political jostling among parties and prominent figures that has accompanied each stage of the process has delayed government efforts to tackle longstanding reforms.

Tunisia's economy was not delivering even before the pandemic with sluggish growth, high deficits and public debt, and failing state-owned companies.

Joblessness, inequality and declining public services have angered many Tunisians and tarnished the country's newly formed democracy.