Tunisia's PM Urges Calm as Austerity Protests Turn Deadly
- Tensions are rising after fuel prices and taxes raised
- Chahed says 2018 will be ‘last difficult’ year for Tunisia
Tunisian police stand guard as citizens demonstrate in Tunis on Jan. 9, 2018.
Photographer: Fethi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images
Tunisia’s premier called for calm on Tuesday and promised that economic hardships would ease next year after the country’s main opposition party urged Tunisians to step up demonstrations against rising prices that have left one protester dead.
Hundreds of Tunisians poured into the center of the capital on Tuesday, a day after clashes with security forces in the nearby town of Teboura left one person dead and five wounded. Protests have erupted around Tunisia since the start of the year, when the government cut fuel subsidies and raised taxes in an effort to revive an economy that has faced repeated challenges since the 2011 ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.