Tunisian Police Storm Show of Comedian Mocking Country’s President

Tunisian police interrupted the show of a popular comedian, after he made jokes about the country’s president. Lotfi Abdelli waved a middle finger as he spoke about the police, political parties and President Kais Saied during his performance on Sunday at the Sfax International Festival. The audience of 10,000 chanted in support of Abdelli as police attempted to remove him from the stage; the comedian called on the audience to film the police behavior, according to The New Arab. The police later withdrew and Abdelli finished his performance. Abdelli, who is also an actor, later cancelled all his future shows and announced in a Facebook post that he would leave Tunisia permanently. Tunisia’s interior ministry in a statement said that there was “tension” between police and Abdelli at the show but blamed the comedian’s jokes. In July of last year, Saied dismissed his government and seized a number of powers by granting himself executive authority in what critics have called a coup. In September 2021, he announced that he would rule by decree. Tunisians late last month approved a new constitution that greatly expands the president’s authority. The referendum received over 90% support, but only 27.5% of registered voters cast ballots as the opposition boycotted the initiative. The newly approved constitution marks the official transition from a hybrid parliamentary democracy to a presidential-centered system. Tunisia became a democracy in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring revolutions. Its democratic president and parliamentary form of government have experienced some difficulties. Saied was elected president in 2019.