Tunisia unveils the draft of the new Constitution, which expands the powers of the president

July 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of Tunisia, Kais Saied, has published the details of the draft Constitution that will be submitted to a referendum on July 25, a document that expands his powers and has already been the subject of much criticism from the ranks of the opposition.

The text has been prepared by a committee made up of people appointed by Saied himself, who in July 2021 assumed all powers after suspending Parliament -later dissolved- and dissolving the Government.

Chapter 4 of the project contemplates that the president exercise the “executive function” with the help of the Government and states that the leaders are elected for a term of five years, renewable only once, according to the Tunisian radio station Mosaique FM.

Likewise, it reflects that the president has total immunity in the exercise of his functions and appoints the prime minister and the ministers proposed by the head of government, to whom he can delegate his powers in the event of a temporary vacancy in the exercise of power.

In case of vacancy due to death, resignation or incapacity, it is the president of the Constitutional Court who occupies the Presidency for a period of between 45 and 90 days, without being able to stand for election. The presidential candidates must be at least 40 years old.

On the other hand, the president has the authority to adopt “exceptional measures” in the event of “imminent danger” for the State, while he also has authority over the justice apparatus and the Army, amid complaints about Saied’s will to impose an autocratic model.

The Constitution thus concentrates powers in the figure of the president, leaving aside the National Assembly, which will be made up of two chambers, while a Council of Regions will be created with the declared objective of improving the representation of the population.

The Magna Carta project also does not contemplate a reference to Islam as a “state religion”, as Saied himself had advanced, while it states that the Constitutional Court will be made up of nine people and stresses that members of the Army, the armed forces security, Customs workers and judges do not have the right to strike.

If it is approved in a referendum –something likely due to calls for a boycott by the opposition–, the document will replace the Magna Carta approved in 2014 following the overthrow in 2011 of the then president, Zine el Abidine ben Ali, in the framework of a massive wave of popular protests in what is known as the ‘Arab Spring’.

Saied is facing growing criticism for the economic crisis and the exceptional measures adopted since May 2021, a measure denounced by many parties, including the Islamist Ennahda, which had the majority of seats in the dissolved Parliament.