July saw 975 protests, Coordinator of the Social Observatory of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (French: FTDES) Najla Arfa said on Thursday. Most of them took place in the country’s southwest , particularly Gafsa,

The number of protests over the last seven months (from January to July 2021) reached 7,773 against 4,566 during the same period last year.

Tunisia’s southwest takes the lead in the number of protests staged last July (325), followed by the northwest (194 protests), the south-east (166 protests and the central-western region (125 protests).

Gafsa recorded the highest number of protests in July as 277 demontrations were staged over the lack of development and employment, followed by Tunis (98 protests) and Tataouine (70 protests). No demonstrations took place in El Kef, the same source said.

Strikes accounted for 16.4 % of the total number of protests, followed by rallies (7%), closing of workplaces (5.6 %), media calls (4.7 %) an,d road closures (3.7 %).

Social demands motivated 45% of demontrations in July, while economic issues fueled 22% of protests.

Demands focused on inadequate infrastructure (12%) and poor administrative management (11%) and the performance of politicians (10%).

The spike in the number of protests is the result of social tension and resentment against the political class as economic and social conditions worsened.

Electricity outages and stoppages in drinking water supply as well as the soaring inflation, price hikes, the poor government performance and the deterioration of healthcare services over the spread of the Coronavirus were all factors that sparked protests last July.

Civil servants are the main actors in protests (27%), followed by workers (19%), the population (18%) and young people (17%).

Workplaces, governorate headquarters, roads and ministry buildings represented the main spots of protest with the respective rates of 26%, 13%, 13% and 7%.

Source: TAP News Agency