A general strike and an angry march in Gabès, Tunisia, against the chemical complex policy

Tunisia- Today, Tuesday, the governorate of Gabes, south-eastern Tunisia, witnessed the impact of a regional general strike that paralyzed all facilities of life, while thousands of citizens went out in a massive march to demand the immediate closure of the chemical complex located in the region and to reject what they described as “patchwork reforms” by the government.

The march started from the city center and crossed the main streets towards the Marine Corniche, amid chants and slogans demanding the cessation of production and the dismantling of the polluting complex units. The participants chanted slogans like, “The people want to dismantle the units,” and they also demanded the release of the detained protesters.

Although the government announced during a parliamentary session yesterday, Monday, a program to rehabilitate the chemical complex and reduce its toxic emissions, the people expressed their disappointment, considering that these decisions do not respond to their only demand, which is to stop production permanently and close the complex.

A protest demonstration in the southern city of Gabes #TunisiaDemands the closure of the “Tunisian Chemical Complex,” which processes phosphates to produce fertilizers, and protesters confirm that it is behind dozens of cases of gas poisoning and health problems related to pollution. pic.twitter.com/ejPxdhy2oJ

– Al Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) October 21, 2025

Official indifference

The session sparked a wave of criticism due to the absence of Prime Minister Sarah Al-Zaafrani and the Ministers of Environment, Industry, Mines and Energy from it, despite the seriousness of the environmental and security situation, while the Minister of Equipment only announced 6 projects to rehabilitate the complex in stages.

The general strike called by the Regional Labor Union of Gabès came as a reaction to the accumulation of government promises, after all previous projects to address pollution or those affected were disrupted in light of the deterioration of health services, according to the union’s statement.

In this context, Sami Ben Ramadan, one of the protesters, told Al Jazeera Net that the state sees in Gabès nothing but a reservoir for chemical fertilizers extracted from the complex, adding that people’s lives and children’s health are not a priority for the authority.

This young man – who is unemployed – confirms that “President Kais Saied lost what remained of his popular stock after he failed to address the crises of unemployment, pollution, and the high cost of living, and was content with populist speeches with no notable achievements.”

The residents accuse the authority of practicing a policy of procrastination by talking about agreements with Chinese companies to rehabilitate the chemical complex, at a time when they consider that the only solution is to stop production and dismantle the polluting units.

Since the establishment of the complex in 1972, Gabes has turned into a major pollution hotspot, with millions of tons of phosphogypsum being poured into the sea annually, which has led to the suffocation of fish resources, the deterioration of agricultural lands, and the spread of respiratory diseases and cancer.

Today, this ancient environmental disaster has become a new political test for the Kais Saied regime, which raises the slogan “The people want,” but it faces increasing accusations that it is not listening to the pulse of the street in Gabès and is now treating the environmental file there with a security approach and patchwork solutions.

maelstrom

For his part, environmental activist Khairuddin Dabaiyeh told Al Jazeera Net that a state of anger is sweeping the people of Gabes due to the authorities’ refusal to respond to their legitimate demands for a clean environment free of toxins released by the chemical complex. He adds that the absence of the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Environment and Industry from the previous parliamentary session was a “slap” to them, and revealed the authority’s contempt for their legitimate demand for a healthy environment and their right to life.

For his part, Ramadan Ben Omar, spokesman for the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (an independent non-governmental organization), believes that the environmental crisis in Gabès reflects the accumulation of wrong development choices for decades, made at the expense of the health of the population and the environment, amid the state’s inability to keep pace with the worsening environmental and social repercussions.

He confirms to Al Jazeera Net that the current official discourse is suffering from erosion, indicating that “the existing political system, despite its claim of a break with the previous system, has not presented real alternatives or a new vision, but rather repeats the same mistakes in managing the environmental and social file.”

According to Ben Omar, President Saied, who was previously close to the environmental movement in Gabès and knew its demands, found himself today in a real test “after he denied those demands, which made citizens hold his speech accountable.”

He added that the protests taking place in areas such as the Al-Mazuna area in Sidi Bouzid Governorate (central west), Umm Al-Arais in Gafsa Governorate (southwest) and Gabes express the return of social momentum, considering that Saied “has become in direct confrontation with the people and not with his political opponents, which may push him again to security and judicial solutions instead of dialogue.”

Responsibility of authority

As for Riad Al-Shuaibi, a leader in the Ennahda movement, he believes that the general strike in Gabès expresses massive popular anger towards the government’s inability to address a chronic environmental crisis that has been ravaging the region for years, despite repeated reform promises without tangible results.

He explained that the peaceful protests in the governorate faced security repression and arrests among young people, in addition to smear and incitement campaigns, which prompted regional organizations to support them and grant them broader union and civil legitimacy.

He confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that the political system after July 25, 2021 (the president’s extraordinary decisions) had become “presidential par excellence, which makes Saied bear full responsibility for the deterioration of the environmental and social situation, as he is the body that draws up the general policies of the state in accordance with his new constitution.”

According to Al-Shuaibi, Saeed lost his margin of maneuver and was no longer able to take bold decisions, such as closing or moving polluted units, due to the weakness of his financial resources and the decline of his foreign relations, which made him look for circumstantial solutions and populist appeasements that do not address the root of the crisis.

Observers believe that the Gabes crisis represents the culmination of the erosion of the political credibility of the current regime, as it exposed the gap between the president’s promises and slogans, and the reality of people who have lost confidence in the official discourse. They warn that ignoring this province’s anger could be a spark for broader social movements in the country, especially with the increase in protests among unemployed youth, workers and the opposition.