By Tarek Amara
TUNIS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Thousands of Tunisians joined the largest protest against President Kais Saied in years in the capital on Saturday, accusing him of undermining democracy and mishandling the economy in a growing challenge to his rule.
The demonstration, led by the major UGTT labour union and civil society groups, comes as Tunisia grapples with an economic crisis, worsening public services, recurring water and power cuts, and shortages of medicines and essential goods.
Saied seized broad powers in 2021 and 2022, dissolving parliament, dismissing dozens of judges and ruling by decree, moves that opponents described as a coup.
Rights groups say he has intensified a crackdown on civil society, journalists and opposition figures. Saied rejects those allegations, saying he is not a dictator, and has accused his opponents of engineering economic crises to fuel social unrest.
In a rare show of unity, opposition parties from across the political spectrum joined lawyers, doctors, journalists, unemployed people and civil society groups in marching along Habib Bourguiba Avenue, a focal point of the 2011 protests that helped trigger the Arab Spring uprisings.
The protest poses a significant challenge to Saied after years of divisions weakened the opposition's ability to mobilise large crowds.
"Silence will no longer be acceptable ... the state cannot built by concentrating all powers in the hand of one person", Slah Eddine Salmi, head of the UGTT, told the rally.
Hundreds of police were deployed across the capital.
Protesters chanted: "No fear, power belongs to the people!" and "The prisons are full, people are hungry!". They also revived the iconic slogan of the 2011 uprising, which in Tunisia was notably peaceful: "The people want the fall of the regime!"
They called for the release of Saied's critics and demanded an end to what they described as attacks on trade union rights. Some carried banners expressing frustration over unemployment and pollution.
"Enough is enough! The country is collapsing. We suffer from power and water cuts, and one crisis after another," said Yassine Gharseli, a protester from Sfax, about 250 km (155 miles) south of Tunis.
"I came from Sfax to stand up for my freedom and I'm not about to give up, even if I become the last voice in the country."
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Mark Potter and Kevin Liffey)
