World Tour: Election protests in Tunisia

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It:

WORLD Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Oduah.

[AUDIO: Sound of protesters]

Tunisia protests —We take off today in Tunisia’s capital of Tunis where protesters are opposing changes to the electoral law, weeks before a national election.

The proposed legislation will transfer the power to supervise elections and settle electoral disputes from the Administrative Court to ordinary courts.

Opponents see the move as yet another attempt by President Kais Saied to win a second term.

Romthan Ben Amor joined the protests.

BEN AMOR: [Speaking Arabic]

He says here that the bill highlights the fear that persists among the president and his supporters ahead of the vote.

Saied appointed an electoral commission that has so far disqualified three presidential candidates. The commission defied a ruling by the administrative court in their favor and only allowed two opponents to run against Saied. Authorities sentenced one of the opponents to 20 months in prison last week for what he has called politically motivated allegations.

Tunisia’s election is scheduled to begin Oct. 6.

Sri Lanka’s new leader — We head over to Sri Lanka where the country’s first leftist president assumed office on Monday.

Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayake defeated 37 other candidates to emerge the winner of the Saturday vote. He previously served as agriculture and irrigation minister and lost a presidential election bid back in 2019.

He now comes into office as Sri Lanka still grapples with an economic crisis. His predecessor imposed tax hikes and other austerity measures in a bid to end shortages of key staples and stabilize the economy.

Dissanayake said he knows he’s inheriting a government in deep crisis.

DISSANAYAKE: [Speaking Sinhala]

He says here that he’s not a magician, but will prioritize making informed decisions to help the country.

Dissanayake became the country’s first president to emerge as winner with less than 50 percent of the votes.

AUDIO: [Flood response]

Japan flooding — Over in northern Japan, residents are cleaning up after heavy rainfall brought floods and landslides that have killed at least six people.

At least a dozen rivers overflowed across the region of Ishikawa. The area is still battling the aftermath of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 370 people in January.

Floodwaters also affected the emergency housing built for the earthquake victims.

They include residents like Shoichi Miyakoshi. His wife died in a 2007 earthquake, and January’s earthquake destroyed his home. Flooding then destroyed his temporary housing.

MIYAKOSHI: [Speaking Japanese]

He says here that he will have to start all over again through another cold winter.

AUDIO: [Singing]

Oktoberfest — And we close today at the world’s largest folk festival in Germany.

Hundreds of thousands of people crowded the city of Munich dressed in traditional Bavarian costumes—like leather trousers, checkered shirts, and corseted dresses.

AUDIO: [Countdown and applause]

On Saturday, Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter inserted a tap into the first keg, officially kick-starting two weeks of activities.

Germans trace the annual Oktoberfest traditions back to a horse race in 1810 that celebrated the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen.

Leonard Seydold is attending the event for the third time.

SEYDOLD: [Speaking German]

He says he’s looking forward to enjoying the atmosphere and having fun.

This year’s festivities came with extra security after a deadly knife attack in the western city of Solingen last month.

Event organizers set up metal detectors for the first time at Oktoberfest.

Authorities also deployed 600 police officers and an additional 1,500 security officers.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Oduah in Abuja, Nigeria.

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