[Today’s Prayer] Anti-Government Protests in Tunisia… Condemning the “Authoritarian Regime”

On the 25th (local time) in North Africa's Tunisia, anti-government protests took place criticizing President Kais Saied’s authoritarian rule.

According to Reuters, hundreds of activists marched in the capital, Tunis, under the slogan “The Republic is a Big Prison,” calling for the release of imprisoned opposition leaders, journalists, and activists.

This day marked the fourth anniversary since President Saied declared a national state of emergency and began ruling by decree.

Protesters shouted slogans such as, “President Saied’s authoritarian regime has turned Tunisia into an open-air prison,” and “The people want the regime to fall.”

President Saied, a former constitutional law professor, has been criticized for returning Tunisia—the birthplace of the Arab Spring—to authoritarian rule.

Citing a need to eliminate political corruption and incompetence, he declared a state of emergency in 2021 and effectively suspended the functions of the legislature and judiciary. In 2022, he revised the constitution to concentrate national power in the presidency.

The constitutional changes granted the president the authority to appoint the head of the executive branch, dissolve the parliament, appoint judges, and serve as commander-in-chief of the military. Moreover, the executive branch, appointed by the president, was no longer subject to parliamentary approval—moves that have been criticized as akin to a coup.

Source: Yonhap News Agency 

Prayer

“The Israelites said to the Lord, ‘We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.’” (Judges 10:15)

Heavenly Father, we have heard the news that in Tunisia, North Africa, anti-government protesters have cried out, “The Republic is a big prison,” calling for the release of imprisoned opposition leaders, journalists, and activists in opposition to President Saied’s authoritarian rule.

Tunisia, which had sparked the Arab Spring in 2010 to end the long dictatorship of then-President Ben Ali, is now returning to authoritarianism through President Saied’s constitutional changes, concentrating power solely in the presidency. Lord of justice, have mercy on the Tunisian people and rule them with Your grace.

Please respond to the cries of the Tunisian people who have left their livelihoods behind to reclaim their freedom in the streets. Let the true gospel of freedom and peace enter Tunisia.

Lord, when the Tunisian people turn from the nation's injustice and sin, repent, and humbly come before Jesus Christ, grant them Your grace and the true hope that delivers from all death and suffering.

Strengthen the Tunisian Church that You have preserved for this time. May they stand boldly as light and salt, proclaiming the gospel with courage, and rise in the Word and prayer to be the leadership guiding their nation.

May the global Church and the African Church also join in concern and prayer for Tunisia’s future. Raise up more workers to be sent out with the gospel, so that Tunisia may become a holy nation transformed by the gospel.

Let Tunisia be used as the key to revival in the Maghreb and across Africa!