Nouha, 50: ”Kuppen gav oss svält och fattigdom”

The 2021 Tunisian self-coup occurred in Tunisia on 25 July 2021 when President Kais Saied dissolved the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and announced the dismissal of the government. The president's decisions were denounced by human rights organizations and considered by several foreign media outlets and Tunisian political entities as a self-coup. The coup came after a series of protests against the Ennahda-led government, economic difficulties, and the collapse of the Tunisian health system due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia.On the day of the dismissal, Tunisian Parliament Speaker and Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi said the president's actions were an attack on democracy and called on his supporters to take to the streets to oppose it. Protests erupted in Tunisia in support of and opposition to the decisions of President Saied. Saied issued a decision imposing a month-long curfew, starting from 26 July from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. After the 30-day period expired, the President issued a decision on 24 August 2021 to extend the period of "extraordinary measures" he had announced a month before "until further notice."By Autumn, the crisis had escalated. In October 2021, Najla Bouden was appointed Prime Minister, making her the first female prime minister both in Tunisia and the Arab world. She formed a new government to deal with the turbulent economic crisis. On February 6, Kais Saied dissolved the country's top independent judiciary, a move that was condemned by the opposition as a power grab. On February 24, 2022, Saied announced that foreign funding for civil society organizations will be prohibited. He said, "Non-governmental organisations must be prevented from accessing external funds... and we will do that."