<span style="color: #222222;">Tunisia's President has sacked the Prime Minister and suspended Parliament, after violent mass protests nationwide yesterday.<br />''<br />'' Anger over the government's handling of a massive recent spike in COVID cases has added to general unrest over the nation's economic and social turmoil.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">President Kais Saied, who was elected in 2019, announced he was taking over. His supporters erupted in celebration, but opponents in Parliament immediately accused him of staging a coup.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr Saied, an independent, has removed, Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, with the backing of the largest party in Parliament, Ennahda.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Tunisia's revolution in 2011 is often held up as the sole success of the Arab Spring revolts across the region, but, it has not led to stability economically or politically.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The recent Corona virus surge has fuelled long-standing public frustration. The Health Minister was sacked last week after a bungled vaccination campaign.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The unrest continued into the early hours today, as the Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi, who leads Ennahda, tried to get into the legislature in Tunis.</span><br />''