TUNIS — Kais Saied has extended Tunisia’s nationwide state of emergency until Dec. 31, 2026, keeping in place sweeping powers that rights advocates say have increasingly been used to curb dissent and restrict public life.
The extension—published in the country’s official gazette—continues a security framework that allows authorities exceptional measures, including house arrest, curfews, restrictions on meetings and assemblies, and broad controls that can affect media activity and public demonstrations, depending on judicial authorisations and implementing orders.
Tunisia first declared the state of emergency on Nov. 24, 2015, after a bomb attack on a bus carrying presidential guards killed 12 officers. Since then, it has remained in force continuously through repeated renewals by successive administrations.
The latest extension comes amid renewed domestic tension over Saied’s direction of the country. In July 2021, he suspended parliament and began ruling by decree, a move critics called a power grab and Saied defended as lawful and necessary to end political paralysis and corruption.
Opponents and rights groups say the consolidation of power has been accompanied by an escalating crackdown on critics, including politicians, activists and journalists. Saied rejects accusations of authoritarianism and has said prosecutions target wrongdoing, not political opposition.
Public frustration has surfaced in street protests in Tunis and elsewhere, with demonstrators demanding the release of detainees and a return to democratic norms.
Analysts say the extended emergency powers—combined with the political centralisation since 2021—are likely to keep pressure on civic space in the months ahead, even as the government frames the measures as essential for security and stability.
