Protesters are demanding development, jobs and dignity, the same slogans that drove the 2011 revolution Originally published on Global Voices Screenshot from video ‘Tunisians protest against the president: Critical infrastructure struggling to cope in summer’ on the Al Jazeera English channel on YouTube . Fair use. This article , by Basma Barakat, was originally published in The New Arab on September 18, 2026. This edited version is republished on Global Voices as part of a content partnership agreement. Several Tunisian provinces are witnessing growing popular protests demanding development, jobs and dignity, the same slogans that drove the revolution that erupted on January 14, 2011. For the first time since then, the general public are joining unemployed people in protesting, frustrated after years of unfulfilled promises, unenforced laws and deteriorating conditions. Protests erupted on Thursday, September 17, following a large mobilisation in Menzel Bouzaiane, Sidi Bouzid province, the birthplace of the 2011 revolution. Continuing the escalation, a second mobilisation took place on Wednesday under the slogan “Work, freedom, national dignity.” The province of Kasserine in central-western Tunisia witnessed “unprecedented tensions” on Tuesday when unemployed university graduates, accompanied by their children and families, protested, demanding implementation of Law No. 18 of 2025, which provides for their recruitment into the public sector. Demonstrations are continuing in Gabes province in southern Tunisia and several other provinces. On September 14, renewed calls were made for a regional protest outside the Gabes governorate headquarters. Responding to escalating anger, President Kais Saied held a meeting on September 15 with Prime Minister Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri and Economy and Planning Minister Samir Abdelhafidh on Tuesday evening to discuss next year’s draft finance law. In a statement, Saied stressed the need to ensure “regional balance,” provide “job opportunities” and achieve dignity within a five-year development plan. Links between political, social and economic sectors Wissem Sghayer, spokesman for the Republican Party, told The New Arab that “the social movement is, at its core, a political movement: It brings together and intersects with social and economic issues.” For Sghayer, “The moment will come when all the different issues converge in the same arena,” explaining that one important element is the Tunisian General Labour Union and its call for a general strike. “These are all interconnected and complementary elements, as the union played a role in the national dialogue and is therefore a key component of the overall scene. Despite its declining role, its participation last Thursday represents a message to the authorities that it stands against authoritarianism and injustice.” For Rafik Abdessalem, former foreign minister and Ennahda Movement leader, the growing protest movement in the capital and across the country includes demands about water and electricity cuts as well as the lack of necessities of life, jobs, services, and marginalisation, among other issues. According to him, with the Tunisian General Labour Union entering the scene through regional actions, in preparation for a general strike, the social arena is heading towards greater tension , indicating a major state of unrest similar to the atmosphere that preceded the Tunisian revolution of 2011. This is particularly the case amid the authorities’ inability to meet citizens’ basic needs and their rejection of all forms of dialogue and social negotiations, as if their message to Tunisian society and its political and social forces is that there is no way to achieve change other than through popular protests. Abdessalem explained that “Despite the systematic repression carried out by the coup authorities through arrests, political trials and silencing voices by using Decree 54 , which restricts freedom of expression, the political arena is witnessing growing mobilisation, represented by the formation of political and social initiatives and political fronts.” “However, what has been observed so far is that the social and political movements are moving along relatively parallel tracks, but over time they are heading towards convergence, particularly as everyone has come to realise that social demands, without political organisation and a political horizon, remain limited in their impact,” he added. Tunisia’s head of state For Abdessalem, social protests have begun to feature political slogans directed at the head of state, particularly after they hit a wall of indifference, manipulation and repression by the regime: “The scene is likely to move, through the accumulation of crises and the development of protests, towards greater overlap and convergence between the social and political tracks,” he added. He noted that the Tunisian General Labour Union itself, which has clearly distanced itself from the authorities after its latest congress on Thursday, September 17 had included issues of freedoms, opposition to political trials and the use of the judiciary in its statements and trade union demands. “Tunisia is recovering its long-standing political traditions based on political and organised social action and on coordination and joint work in confronting an authority that seeks to undermine all intermediary bodies and destroy all the gains brought by the revolution,” Abdessalem remarked. “The slogan of the revolution, ‘ The people want ,’ has turned into ‘ The leader wants ,’ without a people, safeguards or oversight.” According to the former minister, “The most important lesson Tunisians have drawn from their revolution is that social demands, if they remain within their sectoral or local regional framework, will stay limited in scope, but when they combine with political action, they can become a key driver of change.” He stressed that Tunisia is moving towards the convergence of the various streams of political struggle and social protest based on restoring freedom and democracy, particularly as the promises of the authorities have faded, and their failures have increased at all levels. Unemployment fuels protests According to Ramadhan Ben Omar, a researcher specialising in social movements, protests by unemployed people are intensifying across the country, and the geographical scope of the protests is expanding daily. “The authorities will face a real test: either confronting these protests using traditional methods, namely security and repression, or attempting to discredit the protests through rhetoric about conspiracies, treason and the existence of external actors,” he said. “This is the rhetoric the authorities resort to whenever there are movements linked to social and economic demands, and not only to discredit rights and civil society protests,” he added. “The unemployed continue to embarrass the authorities and hold them responsible. They will face two options: either submit and issue the implementing orders for Law No. 18 of 2025, which concerns exceptional provisions for recruiting higher education graduates who have been unemployed for a long time into the public sector and civil service, or the protests will take on other dimensions, as several parties with different demands may join them,” he noted. Wiam Othmani, a civil society activist and one of the unemployed people in Menzel Bouzaiane , told The New Arab that the movement there is peaceful “but it is continuing to escalate because Law No. 18, published in the Official Gazette in 2025 and providing for the employment of those who have been unemployed for a long time, has not been implemented, and the promises made to the unemployed have not been fulfilled.” Fourteen years have passed without her being employed; other people have been unemployed for 20 or 25 years, or even longer. “There is no turning back,” Othmani said, “the protests have no leadership, but we organise ourselves to ensure that we remain peaceful until our demands for jobs and dignity are met.” Written by The New Arab