The president celebrates the victory of the referendum despite the fact that less than a third of the census has participated, the worst figure in an election since the overthrow of Ben Ali in 2011
Eleven years after the overthrow of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has distanced itself from its democratic transition to build an “ultra-presidential” system. The head of state, Kais Saied, saw his purpose achieved on Tuesday by getting the ‘yes’ to prevail in Monday’s constitutional referendum. However, the result seemed devoid of legitimacy since 72.4% of the census abstained.
The 27.5% turnout, the lowest since the fall of Ben Ali in 2011, did not prevent Saied from celebrating the victory of a referendum that did not require a minimum number of voters. “Tunisia has entered a new phase, with a Magna Carta that will allow it to go from a situation of hopelessness to one of hope,” he told a crowd as motorcades waved flags and honked horns in the capital.
Although the final result has not been confirmed by the Higher Independent Body for Elections, the director of the Sigma Conseil demoscopic institute, Hassen Zargouni, advanced that “between 92 and 93%” of the voters approved the new Constitution, promoted by the president to equip himself with absolute powers.
The text breaks with the parliamentary system in place since 2014, places the president in charge of the Army, allows him to designate a government without legislative approval, and makes it impossible to remove him.
The opposition coalition National Salvation Front denounced that the referendum “does not reflect the vision of the Tunisians and lacks legitimacy.” Saied considers it a “course correction” initiated by him in July 2021, when he suspended Parliament on the grounds that the country was “ungovernable”.
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