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Vol 67 No 1

Published 9th January 2026


Tunisia

Saïed’s reinforces personal rule and defies the IMF

Stand-offs with Western lenders leave the president reliant on regional banks and the Gulf

Tunisia has returned to a highly personalised form of rule since President Kaïs Saïed was elected in 2019, and whose July 2021 ‘state of exception’ – now most widely known as the ‘self-coup’ – has allowed him to consolidate his hold on power. It is underpinned by an unprecedented alliance of military and security elites, and the imprisonment of civil society and political opponents, from former transitional justice commission head Sihem Bensedrine to Islamist leader Rachid Ghannouchi (Dispatches 28/4/25). Saïed retains little more than a sliver of popular support, which put a gloss on his controversial re-election in 2024.

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