Thousands of Tunisians marched through central Tunis on Saturday to demand the resignation of President Kais Saied, marking five years since he suspended parliament and assumed emergency powers on 25 July 2021. Demonstrators gathered at Republic Square before moving down Habib Bourguiba Avenue — the symbolic heart of the capital and the same thoroughfare where crowds gathered at the start of Tunisia's democratic revolution in 2011 — chanting "the people want the fall of the regime" and calling for "freedom, work and national dignity." Anti-riot police were deployed at the main entrances to the avenue as the march unfolded.

The protests were organised by Nafas, an umbrella initiative uniting opposition parties and independent civil society figures opposed to what they describe as a consolidation of power in the presidency. Wissam Sghaier, spokesman for the opposition Jomhouri party, told reporters: "We are not tenants of this country, we are its owners." Imed al-Khamiri of the Ennahdha movement — an Islamist-leaning party whose octogenarian leader Rached Ghannouchi was sentenced in June to life plus 30 years on terrorism charges — said the demonstrations had expanded well beyond traditional opposition circles to include citizens frustrated by deteriorating public services, rising prices and repeated water and electricity outages.

Those outages form the acute backdrop to this anniversary. Between 150 and 200 people have reportedly died since power cuts began more than a week ago during an exceptional heatwave, according to the Organisation of Young Doctors in Tunisia — figures the authorities have neither confirmed nor denied. At least five deaths were directly linked to failures of home medical equipment when power failed. The state electricity company attributed the crisis to record national consumption, reaching 6,000 megawatts, driven by heavy air-conditioning use during temperatures that meteorologists say have exceeded seasonal norms by up to 14 degrees Celsius. President Saied broke a public silence on Saturday to acknowledge the situation, describing the pace of outages as "not normal," though he announced no specific remedial measures.

The date of 25 July carries layered significance in Tunisia. It marks the proclamation of the republic in 1957, but since 2021 it has divided the country between those who regard Saied's intervention as having rescued a paralysed state and those who call it a constitutional coup. On that evening five years ago, Saied invoked Article 80 of the 2014 constitution to freeze parliament, suspend lawmakers' immunity, dismiss the prime minister and assume executive authority. A new constitution adopted by referendum in July 2022 — boycotted by most opposition parties, with turnout below 30% — formalised a presidential system granting Saied considerably broader powers. Dozens of judges were subsequently dismissed, and legislative elections in late 2022 recorded a first-round turnout of just 9%.

The economic record of the past five years has compounded public discontent. Unemployment stands at 15% and is especially severe among young graduates; inflation has exceeded 5% this year while wages have stagnated. IMF negotiations have stalled and external financing has become increasingly conditional. The government describes its approach as one of "self-reliance," but critics — including domestic opposition groups and international human rights organisations — say the restructuring of institutions has weakened the rule of law without delivering the prosperity promised. For many protesters on Saturday, the revival of slogans from 2011 was deliberate: the revolution's core demands of work, freedom and dignity, they argued, remain as distant as ever.