TUNIS / Adel Al-Thabeti / Anadolu

Tunisian President Kais Saied criticized the recurrent power outages and their simultaneous occurrence in several regions of the country, and threatened to hold those responsible accountable.

This came during a visit by Saied on Saturday evening to the Ghdir Al-Qala water complex in the Mornag area west of the capital Tunis, according to a video released by the presidency on Sunday.

This complex is the largest facility for producing, treating, and distributing drinking water in Tunisia, and it belongs to the National Water Exploitation and Distribution Company.

Saied said that 'power cuts at certain times are abnormal.'

He added: 'Power outages happen in every country, but for a limited period, not with this frequency, in several areas, and at the same time.'

He threatened, saying: 'Responsibility must be taken, and whoever fails in his responsibility will bear the consequences of his failures.'

According to data from the Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas, several regions have been experiencing daily power cuts since last Tuesday 'within the framework of preserving the safety and sustainability of the electrical system.'

On Saturday, the Tunisian General Labor Union (the largest union in the country) called for reforming the electricity and water sectors, against the backdrop of ongoing outages coinciding with a severe heatwave the country is experiencing.

It stressed the need to 'be honest with the public opinion about the reality of the situation in the water and electricity sectors, and to present a clear reform program including precise objectives and specific deadlines for implementation.'

The union's position comes as periodic electricity and water outages continue in several regions of the country.

Temperatures in Tunisia exceeded their normal averages by about 13 degrees Celsius, according to the National Institute of Meteorology on Thursday.

The following day, the Tunisian Weather and Climate Observatory reported that temperatures exceeded 45 degrees Celsius in most regions of the country, and surpassed 49 degrees in the cities of Kairouan, Kendar, Majaz al-Bab, Jammel, and Nasrallah.

According to the Director General of the Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas, Faisal Tarifa, on Wednesday, the periodic power cuts aim to reduce pressure on the grid and protect it from a total blackout.

Tarifa explained that power cuts last between 30 and 45 minutes in areas experiencing high pressure on the grid, due to increased use of air conditioning coinciding with the heatwave.

The Tunisian Water Observatory also announced recently that it received 423 reports regarding water supply services during June 2026, including 374 about unannounced outages and disruptions in drinking water distribution, and 6 about water pollution or poor quality.

During the same period, the water network witnessed 20 leaks, while citizens organized 23 protests in this regard.