Tunisia police block protests against Saied referendum

Tunisian police scuffled with protesters against President Kais Saied on Saturday as around 100 people demonstrated against a planned July referendum, a year after his power grab opponents describe as a coup.

The police blocked the protesters as they attempted to reach the headquarters of the electoral board whose chief Saied had replaced last month in a further move to extend his control of state institutions.

Some at the protest in the Tunisian capital, organised by five small political parties, held up placards reading "the president's commission = fraud commission".

Saied on July 25 sacked the government and suspended parliament, which he later dissolved in moves that sparked fears for the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring uprisings.

He has laid out plans for a referendum next month on a replacement for a 2014 constitution that had enshrined a mixed parliamentary-presidential system often plagued by deadlock and nepotism.

On April 22, Saied gave himself powers to appoint three of the seven members of the ISIE electoral commission, including the president.

Then last month he appointed former ISIE member Farouk Bouasker to replace Nabil Baffoun, a critic of his July power grab.

Saied's opponents accuse him of moving towards an autocracy and putting in place a compliant electoral body ahead of the July referendum and parliamentary elections in December.

Many Tunisians however support his moves against a system they say has done little for their quality of life in the decade since a 2011 revolt that toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.