Thousands of Ennahda allies march in Tunis

TUNIS: Tunisia’s biggest political party assembled an immense crowd of supporters in the capital on Saturday in a show of strength that could fuel a dispute between the president and the prime minister.

In one of the biggest demonstrations since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, tens of thousands of Ennahda supporters marched through central Tunis chanting “The people want to protect institutions!” and “The people want national unity!” “Nationalists, Islamists, democrats and communists,” Ghannouchi told the crowd, “we were gathered together during the dictatorship and we must unite again.” Meanwhile, demonstrators protesting last month against inequality and police abuses focused most of their anger on Mechichi and Ennahda.

Ennahda billed Saturday’s march as “in support of democracy,” but it was widely seen as an effort to mobilise popular opposition to Saied — raising the spectre of competing protest movements.

“This is a strong message that all the people want dialogue and national unity,” Fethi Ayadi, a senior Ennahda official, said.

To add to the tensions, demands by foreign lenders for spending cuts, which could lead to unpopular reductions in state programmes, are opposed by the UGTT.

Tunisia’s 2021 budget forecasts borrowing needs of 19.5 billion Tunisian dinars ($7.2 billion), including about $5 billion in foreign loans.

But Tunisia’s credit rating has fallen since the coronavirus pandemic began, and market concerns about its ability to raise funds are reflected in sharp price rises for Tunisian credit default swaps — insurance against default on its debt.

The dispute has played out against a grim backdrop of economic anxiety, disillusionment with democracy and competing reform demands from foreign lenders and the UGTT, the powerful main labour union, as debt repayments loom.