Tunisians vote on proposal to give Prez Saied greater power
Tunisians head to the polls on Monday to vote on a new constitution - a controversial initiative spearheaded by Tunisian President Kais Saied that critics say will formalise his power grab and reverse hardwon democratic gains in the North African nation.
Monday’s referendum marks one year to the day that Saied froze Tunisia’s parliament and dismissed his government - a move derided by critics as “a coup” but celebrated by Tunisians who had grown exasperated with the country’s political elites and years of economic stagnation.
In the year since then, the president has given himself the power to rule by decree and has fired dozens of judges, decisions that have provoked a series of protests.
The new constitution gives the office of the president all executive powers and removes key checks and balances. The power of Tunisia’s judiciary and parliament would be greatly reduced.
Critics warn that Saied’s new political structure could pave the way to a new autocracy in the country that rose up against former autocratic strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 and kicked off the Arab Spring pro-democracy protests. Tunisia is the only nation to emerge with a democracy from those protests.
Saied says the changes are needed to eliminate corruption and “return the nation to the revolutionary path”.
He has urged Tunisians to back the proposal, despite electoral standards requiring that he remain neutral. The preliminary results are expected to be announced by Wednesday, with a final result on August 28.