Protests in Tunisia ahead of vote on new constitution
HUNDREDS of Tunisians took to the streets to protest a controversial referendum that has sparked fears that the Arab Spring’s last democracy is on the cusp of becoming a dictatorship again.
President Kais Saied, who ousted the government in a coup exactly a year ago, is holding a vote today on a new constitution that would hand him almost full control of the North African country’s institutions.
It would also give him the power to dissolve parliament or extend his tenure if he deems there is an “imminent danger” to the state. His mandate would be so expansive that even the constitution’s lead drafter, selected by Mr Saied, has said it would lead to a “disgraceful dictatorial regime” if passed.
Critics have urged Tunisians to boycott the referendum, describing it as a ploy to advance Mr Saied’s agenda under the guise of a democratic vote.
“We call on Tunisians to boycott the referendum and not to participate in any way, because this legitimises it,” Issam Chebbi, head of the centre-left Republican Party, said in a press conference earlier this month.
On Friday and Saturday, hundreds of protesters including leaders of political parties and civil society organisations marched through central Tunis chanting “No to a dictator’s constitution”, and “Freedom, freedom... end the police state”.
“The people want the fall of Kais Saied. The people want the fall of the constitution,” they shouted as they waved Tunisia’s red-and-white flag on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the capital.
Analysts say the president has stifled scrutiny of the document and manipulated the country’s election commission in the run-up to Monday’s vote.
Mr Saied, a 64-year-old former law professor, has been tightening his grip ever since he ousted the previous government, suspended parliament and took over executive functions in July last year.
In the following months, he has shut down independent institutions, cracked down on protesters and the media, and hit his political opponents with travel bans and arrests.