Reply To: Tunisia’s Election Boycott

After reaching a preliminary agreement with the IMF to secure a $1.9bn loan and finance the 2023 budget last year, Saied’s government is now gearing up to implement ravaging new austerity measures the financial institution presented as a prerequisite to sealing the deal. These policies will likely include the complete elimination of food and fuel subsidies, the slashing of public health, education, and social protection spending, and the privatisation of key public companies.

History suggests Saied’s decision to adopt austerity policies dictated by the IMF will sooner or later sound the death knell for his authoritarian and undemocratic regime.

Tunisians will once again rise to try and save their democracy and ensure that they remain able to put food on their tables. Another Tunisian uprising is in the making.

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/1/30/tunisias-democratic-backsliding-its-the-economy-stupid