TUNIS: Hundreds of Tunisians marched Saturday after opponents of President Kais Saied called for protests over a worsening economic crisis.

“The people want what you don’t want. Down with Saied,” chanted the activists, including supporters of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party.

Ennahdha had dominated parliament until Saied launched a dramatic power grab on July 25, 2021, sacking the government and freezing parliament before appointing a new cabinet and ruling by decree.

“The coup has brought us famine and poverty. Yesterday the grocer gave me just one kilo of macaroni and a can of milk,” said Nouha, a woman at one protest.

“How can I feed my family of 13 people with that?” the 50-year-old housewife lamented.

Saturday’s protests were staged in the capital Tunis by two different opposition groups and were held far apart with a heavy police presence to avoid any unrest.