Tunisians vote for new constitution
Tunisians voted in favour of a new constitution that critics fear could entrench efforts by the president to consolidate power, according to official preliminary results late Tuesday.
The text was proposed and revised by Tunisian President Kais Saied himself, and has sparked concerns that the North African nation will see a reversal of hard-won democratic gains. In the year since, Saied has given himself the power to rule by decree and has fired dozens of judges, decisions that have provoked a series of protests. Winning the presidency in 2019 with over 70% of the votes, Saied continues to enjoy widespread popular support, with recent polls putting his approval rating at well over 50 per cent.
“We have gone from the shore of despair and disillusion to the shore of hope,” Saied said. “There will be no turning back. .. This is a total break with a system forever rejected.” But Saied’s critics also called for a boycott of the referendum, saying the process was flawed. Among complaints, they said Saied altered the makeup of Tunisia’s electoral commission, undermining its independence, and alleged that political parties wanting to campaign against the constitution were blocked from holding campaign events.
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