Tunis, Tunisia - Kais Saied has been re-elected president of Tunisia with 90.69 percent of votes cast, electoral authority ISIE said Monday, although low turnout reflected widespread discontent in the cradle of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings. Three years after Saied made a sweeping power grab, rights groups fear his re-election...

Tunis, Tunisia--Tunisian President Kais Saied on Monday stressed the need to reach an approach that contributes to enhancing the security of Arab societies, according to a statement released by the Tunisian presidency. While hosting participants of the 41st session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council launched in Tunis on Monday,...

More than 260 prominent Tunisian figures had signed a petition against what they called a "useless" election, saying Saied's government "continues to implement its political project imposed on" people in the country. They alleged the aim of the election was to "weaken local power, disperse it, and make it another...

A joint statement said the funds amounting to around $164.3 million "aims to support the efforts undertaken by the Tunisian government to promote the recovery of the economy" through "the improvement of the management of public finances". Tunisia, which devotes a good part of its resources to repaying a crippling...

Tunis, Tunisia - The leader of Tunisian opposition party Ennahdha, Rached Ghannouchi, 82, had his jail sentence on terrorism-related charges raised to 15 months on appeal, his party said in a statement on Tuesday. An earlier ruling in May had sentenced Ghannouchi to 12 months in jail with the same fine...

"We condemn the decision of the Tunisian authorities to refuse entry for the delegation," the delegation, made up of five MEPs, said in a statement. "This conduct is unprecedented since (Tunisia's) democratic revolution in 2011", it said.

She was appointed by the president on October 11, 2021, two and a half months after the president granted himself sweeping powers on July 25 by dismissing his then-prime minister and suspending parliament. The constitution, which Tunisian president had amended by referendum in the summer of 2022, granted the president's...

During Tuesday's protest, Ennahdha spokesman Imed Khemiri denounced "the return of a policy of intimidation... which restricts freedom of expression and impacts the media".

Italy and the European Commission have sought to step up engagement with Tunisia, promising funding if the country undertakes to stem emigration from its territory. According to the UN, more than 100,000 migrants arrived by sea to Europe -- most to Italy -- in the first six months of 2023,...

Racial tensions flared into violence against migrants from sub-Saharan African countries in Tunisia's port city of Sfax last week, with hundreds fleeing or being pushed to inhospitable southern desert border areas. "All of the 500 to 700 migrants who were at the Libyan border have been transferred elsewhere," Salsabil Chellali...

The EU offered a 900-billion-euro aid package -- contingent on Tunisia reaching an IMF deal. But Tunisian President Kais Saied has repeatedly refused "diktats" from the IMF and the US has led accusations that the birthplace of the Arab Spring is falling to authoritarianism after the dissolution of parliament and...

Despite reaching an agreement in principle last October on a bailout package worth nearly $2 billion, talks with the IMF have stalled for months over demands to restructure public bodies and lift subsidies on basic goods. Saied said during a meeting with Prime Minister Najla Bouden that the current subsidy...

Ghannouchi, 81, a former speaker of parliament, was arrested last month over different accusations, part of what Human Rights Watch (HRW) called last week a move "to neutralise the country's largest political party". He had appeared in court at the end of February on the terror-related charges after being accused...

The move came a day after the arrest of the party's leader, Rached Ghannouchi, 81, at his home in the capital Tunis, the latest in a string of opposition figures held. Ennahdha was the largest party in Tunisia's parliament before President Kais Saied dissolved the chamber in July 2021.

Tunisia's Saied had said last month he planned to restore diplomatic relations with Syria. Tunisia expelled Syria's ambassador in 2012 over the government's repression of peaceful protesters that triggered more than a decade of civil war which has killed around half a million people and displaced millions more since 2011.

The IMF was originally expected to approve a bailout deal on December 19, but that was delayed pending a Tunisian budget, which has since passed, and a law to stop banks charging excessive interest.

Speaking alongside Prime Minister Najla Bouden, the president said the reports reflected "a level of madness never seen before in Tunisia". Earlier on Monday, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi of the National Salvation Front opposition coalition told journalists: "We ask the government to address the Tunisian people and say if the president...

Several shipwrecks have left dozens of migrants dead in the country that serves as a key conduit for migrants seeking to reach nearby European shores. It comes after President Kais Saied made an incendiary speech last month, accusing sub-Saharan Africans of representing a demographic threat and causing a crime wave...

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had warned Monday that if crisis-torn Tunisia "collapses economically or socially then we will be in a situation where new flows of migrants will come to Europe". An EU delegation arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday to examine "the political and socio-economic situation" and...

Taoufik Charfeddine, a close aide of Tunisia's President and the country's interior minister, has announced his resignation in order to spend more time with his three children in the wake of the death of his wife last year. His wife died in a fire caused by a gas leak in...

State television broadcast the proceedings and only official media were permitted to cover the session, with representatives of Tunisia's private press and foreign journalists denied access, according to an AFP correspondent. "What is happening is dangerous and reflects the authorities' unjustified distrust of the media," Amira Mohamed, deputy head of...

Tunis, Tunisia--More than 1,000 Africans trying to reach Europe have been rescued in a single night off Tunisia, the coast guard said Friday, after a wave of violence against black migrants. Last month President Kais Saied ordered officials in the North African country to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration,...

The councils were seen as a key democratic gain after the 2011 revolt that sparked the Arab Spring. Saied sacked the government in a 2021 power grab, and has since scrapped the post-revolution constitution, neutered parliament and seized far-reaching executive powers.

Reacting to howls of condemnation his controversial comments have ignited, Tunisia's President Kais Saied on Wednesday denied racism. Last month, the president ordered officials to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration, claiming that a "criminal plot" was underway to change Tunisia's demographic makeup.

Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa faced violence and many were made homeless since Saied ordered "urgent measures" against them. In response, World Bank defers a key board meeting on Tunisia.

Denouncing Saied's power grab as a "coup", the protesters defied a ban on demonstrations imposed by Tunis authorities. Initially dozens gathered by a key bus and tramway station in central Tunis before charging police barricades to then march towards Habib Bourguiba Avenue, where the crowd soon swelled to more than...

Warning the country's powerful trade union federation against inviting foreigners to a planned weekend demonstration, Tunisian President Kais Saied said that the UGTT was free to organize demonstrations, but it was not free to invite foreigners to participate in them, after denying entry into the country to an official from...

A week after President Kais Saied ordered "urgent measures" against irregular sub-Saharan migrants, Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur has spoken out against "discrimination". In a tweet Jabeur said that as a proud Tunisian, Arab and African woman she celebrates the right of everyone to live with dignity.

Accusing him of racist comments and hate speech against sub-Saharan migrants, hundreds of people protested in the Tunisian capital on Saturday, denouncing President Kais for his outrageous remarks. Earlier this week, Saied said "hordes" of migrants were causing crime and posed demographic threat in the North African country.

On Wednesday, Tunisian rights groups accused the president of hate speech after he said a day earlier that "hordes" of sub-Saharan African migrants were causing crime and posed a "demographic" threat. Saied, who has seized almost total power since a dramatic July 2021 move against parliament, had urged his national...

"Hordes of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are still arriving, with all the violence, crime and unacceptable practices that entails," he said, according to a statement from his office on Tuesday evening.

SFAX, TUNISIA - Thousands of Tunisian trade unionists held protests across the country on Saturday over worsening economic woes and the arrest of a top union official. The North African country is in drawn-out talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout loan, which the powerful UGTT workers' federation has...

Following a similar turnout in December's first-round vote, Sunday's poor participation was another blow to Saied, who has stripped the legislature of its powers and granted himself far-reaching authority since his dramatic 2021 power grab in the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings. On July 25, 2021, Saied sacked the...

Since October, many shops in Tunisia have restricted milk purchases to two cartons per person as consumers scramble for limited supplies. Another shopper, Leila Chaouali, said she goes out early to get her hands on the white gold. "You do find it sometimes, but only in the morning. By the...

Hundreds of Tunisians, including supporters of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, marched Saturday after opponents of President Kais Saied called for protests over worsening economic crisis. Ennahdha had dominated parliament until Saied grabbed power on July 25, 2021, sacking the government and freezing parliament before appointing a new cabinet and ruling...

Tunis, Tunisia - Dozens of Tunisian lawyers protested on Thursday against newly imposed taxes on legal services, part of a 2023 budget that seeks to boost revenues to the cash-strapped treasury. Led by Bar Association head Hatem Mziou, lawyers gathered outside the Palais de Justice in Tunis as well as other...

The move comes nearly seven months after President Kais Saied sacked 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and blocking enquiries into two left-wing political figures in 2013, among other purported transgressions.

The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) "notes the very low level of participation in the elections, which destroys their credibility and legitimacy and clearly confirms the public's rejection" of Saied's programme, it said in a statement. The current political situation "requires the UGTT to assume its national duty and take...

Tunis, Tunisia--Tunisians on Saturday overwhelmingly boycotted an election for a new parliament which will have virtually no authority following a power grab by President Kais Saied in the birthplace of the Arab Spring. Electoral board president Farouk Bouasker said that by close of polls at 6:00 pm (1700 GMT), just...

Tunisia's foreign ministry summoned the US charge d'affaires on Friday to denounce "unacceptable" statements by American officials criticising this week's constitutional referendum and the country's political development. The ministry said in a statement that it had called Natasha Franceschi, currently the top official at the US embassy, to its headquarters...

Tunisia's President Kais Saied on Tuesday defended a proposed constitution set for referendum this month, after the drafting committee's chief disavowed a document he said could return the country to dictatorship.

Passengers had been blocked from crossing the border since March 2020 to stop the Covid-19 illness spreading, although cargo traffic had continued.

The Tunisian jurist who oversaw the drafting of a new constitution submitted to President Kais Saied said Sunday it has been changed into a charter that could lead to a dictatorship

Some articles of the draft constitution published last Thursday in the official journal could "pave the way for a dictatorial regime", warned Sadeq Belaid, who headed the committee.

A legal expert charged with writing a new constitution presented a draft to Tunisian President Kais Saied Monday, less than a month before a referendum on the document. The planned referendum is set for July 25, the one year anniversary of a power grab by Saied that saw him sack...

Hundreds demonstrated on Sunday in Tunisia's capital against a planned referendum on constitutional changes and President Kais Saied's recent firing of dozens of judges. Protesters in Tunis responded to calls from opposition organizations, including Saied's nemesis the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, chanting "constitution, liberty and dignity" and "the people want an...

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Thursday sacked 57 judges accused of corruption and other crimes, after passing a new law strengthening his grip on the judiciary. Saied had at an earlier cabinet meeting accused unnamed judges of corruption, stalling "terrorism" cases, sexual harassment, collusion with political parties and obstruction of...

Tunisia will hold a constitutional referendum for a "new republic" on July 25, President Kais Saied has announced, in defiance of critics who warn he wants to establish an autocracy. The vote will come exactly a year after Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament, moves his rivals called a...

Tunisia's President Kais Saied on Friday appointed a loyalist law professor to head a committee charged with writing a constitution for a "new republic", through a national dialogue that excludes political parties. On July 25 last year, Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament, sidelining the political parties that have...

Hundreds of Tunisians demonstrated Sunday in a show of support for President Kais Saied and a series of extraordinary measures he took since last July that critics have slammed as a "coup". The rallies come as Saied faces mounting criticism over his July 2021 power grab, in which he sacked...