From Brightest Hope to Open-Air Prison: How Tunisia Lost Its Democratic Promise

Thousands of Tunisians marched in the capital last week against what they called ‘injustice and repression,’ accusing President Kais Saied of cementing one-man rule through the police and judiciary. The protest is part of a wider wave of unrest—journalists, NGOs, fractured political parties, doctors, bankers, and transport workers all say Saied has turned the country into an open-air prison and demand relief from Tunisia’s deepening political and economic crisis.

Fourteen years after Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation ignited the Arab Spring and briefly made Tunisia its brightest democratic hope, the country has slid back into autocracy under Saied’s rule. In today’s episode, we’ll unpack why Tunisia’s democratic transition derailed—and what the future holds for the country's pro-democracy voices.

Our guest is Dr. Youssef Chahed, a Senior Fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School's Middle East Initiative who served as Prime Minister of Tunisia from 2016 to 2020.

Recorded November 26, 2025