Power Grid Overloaded by 49.7°C Heatwave... Anti-Government Protests Intensify in ‘Arab Spring’ Tunisia

Tunisia: Surging Anger Over Youth Unemployment and Rising Prices
Rolling Blackouts and Water Outages Spread as Temperatures Hit Record 49.7 Degrees
President Warns of "Sabotage" While Unions Point to "Lack of Investment"

As record heatwaves and ongoing blackouts grip North Africa’s Tunisia, protests demanding the resignation of the president are spreading across the country.

On the 25th of last month (local time), anti-government protests took place in downtown Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Photo by AP News Agency

On the 5th (local time), Yonhap News, citing the British daily Financial Times (FT), reported that “the suspension of electricity and water services has triggered long-accumulated discontent over economic hardship and the collapse of public services, which is erupting all at once against the regime of President Kais Saied.” Recently, Tunisia, which lies on the Mediterranean coast, has seen temperatures exceed 45 degrees Celsius. On the 17th of last month, the central city of Kairouan recorded 49.7 degrees, surpassing the previous record high of 49.2 degrees, while Zaghouan in the northeast also broke records at 48.6 degrees. The meteorological authority issued an orange alert—the second highest of a four-level warning system—for 10 provinces.

As demand for cooling surged, the aging power grid became overloaded. Electricity demand spiked to an all-time high of 6 gigawatts, forcing the state-run utility, Société Tunisienne de l'Electricité et du Gaz (STEG), to implement rolling blackouts. In some areas, water outages compounded the crisis. Faisal Trifa, head of STEG, stated that the surge in air conditioner usage had pushed the grid to its limits.

In response, young demonstrators blocked roads and set tires on fire. On the 25th of last month, thousands gathered for an anti-government rally in the capital, Tunis. It was the fifth anniversary of President Saied’s declaration of a national state of emergency and his move to expand his powers. Protesters chanted, “There is no electricity, no water—there are just prisons and rising prices.”

Youth Unemployment at 37%, Power Grid Neglected... Discontent Erupts Amid Blackouts and Heatwaves

Behind their taking to the streets lies financial hardship. While macroeconomic indicators such as economic growth are not especially poor, youth unemployment exceeds 37%, and prices—especially of food—have continued to rise. Sahar Meckmek, a researcher at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in the United States, said, “People feel their lives are regressing. The suspension of power and water services has reached an unprecedented level in modern Tunisian history.”

President Saied suggested that sabotage may have played a role in the blackouts and launched an investigation into public officials in charge of electricity and water. He characterized the crisis as an “abnormal phenomenon,” ordered those responsible to be held to account, and instructed the implementation of immediate measures, warning that “the state will not stand idly by while someone is tormenting the citizens and inciting the situation.”

In contrast, labor unions and experts point to chronic underinvestment and fiscal woes as fundamental causes. STEG’s power plant investments fell by 87% from 1.947 trillion dinars (approximately 954 billion won) between 2016–2020 to 248 billion dinars (approximately 121.5 billion won) between 2021–2025. The last major power plant was completed seven years ago. Debt ballooned to 7.36 trillion dinars (about 3.6065 trillion won) as of June this year, and unpaid bills from public institutions and private entities reached 6.06 trillion dinars (approximately 2.9695 trillion won).

Once the Success Story of the ‘Arab Spring’... Public Sentiment Reversed in Five Years

Kais Saied, President of Tunisia. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

The current backlash is the exact opposite of the atmosphere five years ago. President Saied pushed through measures that rolled back democracy, citing a need to eradicate corruption and end government chaos, and at that time, a significant portion of the public supported him.

Tunisia is known as the birthplace of the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’ and was long seen as the only success story of democratization in the Arab world of the Middle East and North Africa. After then-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in early 2011, ending a 23-year rule, the country suffered ongoing political turmoil and economic stagnation. When Kais Saied—a former law professor—was elected president in 2019, hopes were high that he would be the ‘savior’ to rescue the country from crisis.

On a platform of rooting out corruption and incompetence in politics, he declared a national emergency five years ago, effectively suspending both the legislature and the judiciary. The following year, a constitutional amendment concentrated even greater power in the presidency—including command of the military, appointment of the head of government, the authority to dissolve parliament, and to appoint judges. However, by ensuring that his appointed cabinet would not require a parliamentary vote of confidence, critics argued this amounted to little more than a coup. Although Saied was re-elected in the last presidential vote by a margin of 90.7%, the voter turnout was only 28.8%—the lowest among all presidential elections since the Arab Spring.

Riccardo Fabiani, Director for North Africa at the International Crisis Group (ICG), told the FT, “As public services gradually collapse in Tunisia, this has become a key indicator of the overall decline of the state’s functionality.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.