The Constitution in Tunisia could change, eight years after its last modification. A new text is proposed by President Kaïs Saïed who has assumed full powers for nearly a year to get the country out of a political crisis. The opposition and civil society are wary of the new project which marks a clear break with the system in place.
A hyper-presidential regime
The draft Constitution which will be submitted to a referendum on July 25, 2022 grants very broad powers to the Head of State. The text states, among other things, that “the President of the Republic exercises executive power, assisted by a government” whose leader he himself chooses. The President also defines the general policy of the State and ratifies the laws. The new Constitution considerably reduces the role and power of Parliament and provides for the establishment of a second chamber, the National Assembly of the Regions. In the current mixed parliamentary system, the Head of State has only limited prerogatives, mainly in the areas of diplomacy and security.
A text disavowed by the person who wrote it
Sadok Belaid, Ihe jurist who drafted the new Constitution no longer endorses it, and for good reason. The version presented by the president at the end of June “does not belong to anything (to the project) that we have developed”, he explains in a letter published in the press. The Head of State, himself a jurist, would have appropriated the text which “contains considerable risks and shortcomings”. The head of the National Commission in charge of drafting the new Constitution cites in particular an article on the “imminent peril” which guarantees the Head of State “very broad powers, under conditions that only he is able to judge, which could open the way to a dictatorial regime“.
Last minute changes
Since the publication of the draft Constitution at the end of June, President Kaïs Saïed has again changed the initial version. The recent modifications concern in particular the place of Islam. In the new text, it is not written in black and white that Islam is the religion of the country, as in 2014. Rather, we are talking about Tunisia’s belonging to a “ummah (Islamic community) within a democratic system.. This last-minute amendment was intended to remove any ambiguity about the “civil character” of State. The same is true for the rights and freedoms which will no longer be subject to “no restrictions”.
calls for a boycott
The opposition and NGOs reject the new Constitution, which breaks with the system put in place in 2014. The National Salvation Front, a coalition of several parties and associations, has called on Tunisians to boycott the upcoming constitutional referendum. The influential Islamo-conservative Ennahdha party, which is part of this coalition, asked its supporters not to go to the polls denouncing “building an authoritarian regime“.
Since July 25, 2021, Kaïs Saïed has concentrated all the powers arousing anger, fears and sometimes admiration. The referendum which will take place, one year to the day after his coup, will be a test of legitimacy for the Tunisian leader.