President Saied’s referendum is about justice, Islam – and power. Hundreds demonstrate against the constitution. The news from Tunisia in the ticker.
- protests and collisions Referendum in Tunisia: The day before the polls, the opposition demonstrated.
- Tunisia News: The population is scheduled to vote on the new constitution on July 25th. It is intended to cement President Saied’s power.
- restriction of Islam? New constitution possibly without state religion.
- This news ticker for referendum in Tunisia becomes ongoing updated.
Update from July 24, 9:19 p.m.: A good nine million voters are expected to vote on a new constitution in Tunisia on Monday (July 25). This is part of a political restructuring driven by President Kais Saied. The draft constitution is controversial because the president is to be given more power in the future – at the expense of parliament and the judiciary.
The new constitution will come into effect with a simple majority for the draft regardless of voter turnout. The polling stations are open on Monday between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The first results are expected on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Among other things, the new constitution would give the president the power to appoint and dismiss the government and judges. So far, Saied has enforced many such decisions by decree. Hundreds of people demonstrated in Tunis on Saturday (July 23). against the impending change in the constitution. They fear that the new constitution will form the basis for a new dictatorship in the country.
Tunisia votes on new constitution – clashes and arrests even before it begins
Update from Sunday, July 24, 2022, 4:45 p.m.: Hundreds of people demonstrated in Tunisia on Saturday (July 23) against a possible constitutional amendment. A referendum on July 25 is to vote on the draft constitution by Tunisia’s head of state, Kais Saied, which would further expand his power.
Many people fear that the new constitution will be the basis for a renewed dictatorship in the country. “People have come together today because they are aware of the dangers of the referendum that aims to introduce the constitution of an autocratic president who does not recognize or respect the institutions and has no intention of being accountable,” a protester told the news agency Associated Press.
According to the Arabic news channel, the protests were organized Al Jazeera by opposition groups, smaller political parties and civil society groups. According to the Washington Post sometimes violent clashes with the police. About ten people were arrested.
Tunisia votes on new constitution: will President Saied cement his power?
First report from Sunday, July 24, 2022: Tunis – Tunisian President Kais Saied asks for the ballot. However, there are no parliamentary elections in the North African country – these made the conservative politician president in 2019. Rather, the residents of the 12-million-inhabitant state are currently supposed to vote on the new constitution in a referendum.
Tunisia News: President Saied wants to cement power with a referendum
Around two weeks before voting, Saied presented a revised draft of the constitution. In it, the president continues to give himself extensive powers – a clear departure from the parliamentary system introduced in 2014. Thus, the president holds the power to govern, assisted by a head of government whom he appoints and who does not depend on the confidence of parliament.
Parliament’s role would be significantly limited by the new constitution. In future, local councils and no longer the political parties criticized by Saied should nominate members of parliament. Most recently, Saied dismissed 57 judges. Human rights organizations see the rule of law in Tunisia at risk. They have been protesting against Saied for weeks.
News on the Tunisia referendum: Saied presents new draft constitution
However, Saied also presents two other adjustments. Specifically, it is about two articles on the role of Islam and civil liberties. Article 55 will henceforth state that the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the constitution may only be restricted by law or by “necessity imposed by a democratic order”.
Rights may also only be restricted to protect the rights of others to “public security, national defense or public health”. Opposition parties and non-governmental organizations had feared that Article 55, in its original version, gave the authorities too many powers to limit civil liberties.
Tunisia’s government: New constitution without Islam as the state religion?
In Article 5, the phrase “within a democratic system” is to be added to the section that Tunisia is “part of the Islamic community” and that the state must work “towards the attainment of the goals of Islam”. The previous Article 5 had been criticized by advocates of a separation of state and religion. It had also raised fears of discrimination against other religious groups.
Saied said in June that the constitution to be passed by referendum would “not talk about a state with Islam as a religion”. Instead, it is about the state belonging to an umma (community) whose religion is Islam. Article one of Tunisia’s current 2014 constitution describes the North African country as a “free, independent and sovereign state”. It goes on to say: “Islam is his religion and Arabic is his language.”
Tunisia news: a fateful year for Kais Saied
Kais Saied faces a year of political tragedy. The university professor was elected president in 2019 as a career changer. He deposed the government, dissolved parliament and increasingly took control of the judiciary.
According to the AFP news agency, many Tunisians welcome the controversial measures because they no longer trust the corrupt and often chaotic system that emerged after the peaceful revolution of 2011. Others, however, warn against a return to autocracy. Early parliamentary elections are scheduled for December. Possibly with a new constitution. (as/AFP/dpa)
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