Thousands March in Tunis in Biggest Protest in Years Against President Saied

Thousands of Tunisians marched through the capital on Saturday, October 17, 2026, in the largest protest against President Kais Saied in years. The march, led by the powerful UGTT labour union and civil society groups, accused Saied of undermining democracy and mishandling the economy.

Protesters gathered along Habib Bourguiba Avenue in central Tunis, the street that was a focal point of the 2011 protests that helped trigger the Arab Spring uprisings. Hundreds of police were deployed across the capital and several surrounding roads were closed. The AFP news agency reported that more than 3,000 people were on the march, a total that could not be independently confirmed.

The crowd brought together people who rarely march side by side. Opposition parties from across the political spectrum joined lawyers, doctors, journalists, unemployed people and civil society activists. Reuters called it a rare show of unity after years of divisions weakened the opposition's ability to bring large crowds onto the streets.

What the marchers demanded

Protesters chanted "No fear, power belongs to the people" and "Prisons are full, people are hungry." They also revived the best known slogan of the 2011 uprising: "The people want the fall of the regime."

Placards read "No democracy without freedoms" and "No dignity with poverty." Marchers called for the release of detained critics of the president and an end to what they described as attacks on trade union rights. Other banners raised unemployment and pollution.

Salah Eddine Salmi, the head of the UGTT, told the rally that silence would no longer be acceptable and that a state cannot be built by concentrating all powers in the hand of one person.

Yassine Gharseli, a protester who travelled from Sfax, about 250 km (155 miles) south of Tunis, said the country was collapsing. He pointed to power and water cuts and one crisis after another.

Why the anger has grown

The protest comes as Tunisia struggles with an economic crisis, worsening public services, recurring water and power cuts, and shortages of medicines and other essential goods. Anger has also grown over the rising cost of basic goods and falling purchasing power.

Saied seized broad powers in 2021 and 2022. He dissolved parliament, dismissed dozens of judges and began ruling by decree, in moves opponents described as a coup.

Rights groups say he has since stepped up a crackdown on civil society, journalists and opposition figures. Saied rejects those charges. He says he is not a dictator and has accused his opponents of engineering economic crises to fuel unrest.

Saturday's march poses a clear challenge to that position. A protest movement that had struggled to unite filled the capital's main avenue again, with unions, parties and professions marching under the same slogans.