Tunisia approves new constitution that concentrates power in the hands of the president

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With an apathetic turnout, Tunisia approved this Monday (25) a constitutional reform that further concentrates power in the hands of the president, Kais Saied. The official results have not yet been released, which should only happen on the morning of this Tuesday (26), but the exit poll released by state TV indicates that 92.3% of voters voted “yes”.

The result is positive for the government, but abstention is on the other hand a sign of protest. Only 25% of the population voted, according to the projection. The low participation indicates the disinterest and boycott of the Tunisians, who preferred to go to the beach on holiday (this Monday was celebrated the Republic Day) and crowded the Mediterranean coast. In the 2014 legislative elections, 62% of the population voted, by comparison. The turnout in the 2019 legislative elections was 41%.

The new Constitution changes the Tunisian political system. The country no longer follows the current mixed parliamentary model — that is, with a president and a premier — and adopts a presidential model.

Saeid will be able to rule by decree until the country elects a new parliament, which is expected to take place in December. He will have power over congressmen and even choose the prime minister. Added to this is the fact that, two months ago, the president took upon himself the prerogative of dismissing judges. In practice, it brings together the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary powers in the post.

The fear expressed inside and outside Tunisia is that this Arabic-speaking country is returning to the authoritarianism it abandoned more than ten years ago. In other words, it is a step backwards, taken precisely by the country that first ignited the wave of protests later known as the Arab Spring.

It was in Tunisia that street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi immolated himself in December 2010, after the police confiscated his products. The death catalyzed demonstrations, in which the population also expressed discontent with the economic crisis and the authoritarianism of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In January 2011, the dictator fled the country after more than 20 years.

Protests also toppled the governments of Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Unlike Tunisia, however, these three countries were quickly dragged back into unstable systems. In Syria, the demonstrations were so violently repressed by the dictator Bashar al-Assad that the country entered a civil war until today insoluble.

Even in Tunisia, the democratic experience has had its bumps since 2011. The country has been experiencing a severe polarization between secular and religious parties since becoming a democracy. In 2013, opposition leader Chokri Belaid was killed, and afterward protests forced Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali from power.

Saied’s election in 2019 was precisely the result of growing dissatisfaction with political parties, seen as corrupt and ineffective by some sectors of the population. A populist, Saied presents himself to the people as someone coming from outside the system and capable of finally solving the country’s crises.

In 2021, amid the severe Covid-19 crisis and the subsequent worsening economy, Saied dissolved the government and suspended parliamentary activities. His many opponents have accused him of carrying out a coup on the grounds that the country is in an emergency situation. Tunisia is in a fragile situation.

Saied recently introduced the proposed constitutional reform, which he justifies as a way to simplify an overcomplicated political system and give the president the powers he needs to quickly transform the country.

But even some of the experts who participated in the writing of the constitutional reform project went public to say that the text gives much scope for Tunisia’s return to dictatorship.

The idea that Saied has staged a coup and is now trying to consolidate his power explains the low voter turnout in the referendum. There were also protests, clashes with security forces and the arrest of several activists – a bad sign for the future. The president had already warned, however, that he would implement the constitutional changes even if few people went to the polls this Monday, which in fact happened.

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