Hundreds people, including many pro-Islamists, demonstrated on Saturday in Tunis against the coup by President Kais Saied who took full powers on July 25, chanting slogans for a return to the legitimacy of power.

Responding to a call posted on social networks, the demonstrators gathered on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, which crosses the heart of the Tunisian capital, surrounded by an important security device. A drone from the Ministry of the Interior also flew over the scene.

The people want to bring down the coup: We want legitimacy, Constitution, freedom and dignity chanted the protesters, including figures from the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party.

Supporters of the Al-Karama coalition, an ultra-conservative party, an ally of Ennahdha, also participated in this demonstration, as well as some left-wing figures.

It is a demonstration to show that there are Tunisians who reject the coup and the measures taken by President Saied, said Jawhar Ben Mbarek, a specialist in constitutional law and former adviser to the presidency.

On July 25, President Kais Saied sacked Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, suspended parliament and assumed judicial power for a renewable month, before extending these measures on August 24, until further notice.

He has since raised the possibility of amending the Constitution, adopted in 2014 and which established a hybrid system, neither presidential nor parliamentary, a source of recurring conflicts between the two powers.

Source: News Agencies