Prospects For The Referendum On The New Draft Constitution And Its Challenges In Tunisia

Prospects For The Referendum On The New Draft Constitution And Its Challenges In Tunisia

    Sunday, July 24, 2022   No comments

 

The last hours before the start of the referendum on the new draft constitution in Tunisia seem decisive and decisive.

It is expected that more than nine million registered voters will go to the polling stations to vote “yes” or “no” on a draft new constitution for the country, including more than eight million voters inside Tunisia and nearly 900,000 outside it.

The voting process abroad begins on Saturday and ends on Monday, July 25, which is the day on which the voting takes place at home and coincides with Tunisia’s commemoration of the Republic Day, as well as the first anniversary of the approval of the exceptional measures that allowed President Kais Saied to dismiss the government and freeze Parliament and then finally dissolve it permanently.

While about 160 participants in the campaign for the referendum, including parties, organizations and natural persons, conclude their activities in preparation for the day of silence and then the referendum day, the opposition moves its spectrum again in the street with calls for demonstrations launched by the parties of the national campaign to overthrow the referendum, which brings together the Democratic Current, the Republican Party, the Ettakatol Party and the Labor Party The Qutb Party, as well as the Civil Coalition for a Social Democratic Civil State on the one hand, and the National Salvation Front led by veteran lawyer and politician Ahmed Najib al-Shabbi, and in which ten political components are included, foremost of which is the Ennahda movement on the other.

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What Authority Does The President Have Under Article 80 Of The 2014 Constitution Of Tunisia?

What Authority Does The President Have Under Article 80 Of The 2014 Constitution Of Tunisia?

    Monday, July 26, 2021   No comments

On July 25, the president of Tunisia, Kais Saied, cited article 80 of the ratified 2014 constitution to declare a national emergency. The presidential order suspended the parliament for 30 days, dismissed the prime minister, and lifted immunity on parliamentarians. Here is a translation of the article that the president is relying on to justify and enforce his declaration.

 

Article 80 * Emergency provisions

In the event of imminent danger threatening the nation’s institutions or the security or independence of the country, and hampering the normal functioning of the state, the President of the Republic may take any measures necessitated by the exceptional circumstances, after consultation with the Head of Government and the Speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and informing the President of the Constitutional Court. The President shall announce the measures in a statement to the people. The measures shall guarantee, as soon as possible, a return to the normal functioning of state institutions and services. The Assembly of the Representatives of the People shall be deemed to be in a state of continuous session throughout such a period. In this situation, the President of the Republic cannot dissolve the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and a motion of censure against the government cannot...

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Tunisian mediator group wins Nobel Peace Prize for aiding move to democracy

Tunisian mediator group wins Nobel Peace Prize for aiding move to democracy

    Friday, October 09, 2015   No comments

Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for helping build democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring, an example of peaceful transition in a region otherwise struggling with violence and upheaval.

The quartet of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers was formed in the summer of 2013.

It helped support the democratisation process when it was in danger of collapsing, the Norwegian Nobel committee said in its citation.

"This is a great joy and pride for Tunisia, but also a hope for the Arab World," UGTT chief Hussein Abassi told Reuters.

"It's a message that dialogue can lead us on the right path. This prize is a message for our region to put down arms and sit and talk at the negotiation table."

With a new constitution, free elections and a compromise politics between Islamist and secular leaders, Tunisia has been held up as a model of how to make the transition to a democracy from dictatorship.

Islamic State blamed for Tunisia attack after killing of Libyan cell leader

Islamic State blamed for Tunisia attack after killing of Libyan cell leader

    Thursday, March 19, 2015   No comments

A total of 22 people, including South African, French, Spanish, Polish and Italian holidaymakers, were killed when gunmen disguised as soldiers stormed the museum in the capital, Tunis.

Armed with Kalashnikovs and grenades, the terrorists sprayed gunfire at tourists getting off buses outside the museum and then charged inside. The Western tourists had apparently got off cruise ship buses and were deliberately targeted.

Other people in the Bardo museum fled the scene in terror while some were taken hostage inside.

The building was then surrounded by heavily-armed security forces. After a two-hour stand-off, they attacked the gunmen and killed two of them, freeing the captives. At least two of the gang escaped and were being hunted by police on Wednesday night.

Instability in Libya and fighters trained in Syria and Iraq returning to Tunisia might be behind the attack that killed 17 foreign tourists and two Tunisians in national museum in Bardo

Instability in Libya and fighters trained in Syria and Iraq returning to Tunisia might be behind the attack that killed 17 foreign tourists and two Tunisians in national museum in Bardo

    Wednesday, March 18, 2015   No comments

Gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed Tunisia's national museum, killing 17 foreign tourists and two Tunisians on Wednesday in one of the worst militant attacks in a country that had largely escaped the region's "Arab Spring" turmoil.

Visitors from Italy, Germany, Poland and Spain were among the dead in the noon assault on Bardo museum inside the heavily guarded parliament compound in central Tunis, Prime Minister Habib Essid said.

Over 60% of Tunisians able to vote voted; 56% of them voted for Beji Caid Essebsi, 44% voted for Mohamed Moncef Marzouki

Over 60% of Tunisians able to vote voted; 56% of them voted for Beji Caid Essebsi, 44% voted for Mohamed Moncef Marzouki

    Monday, December 22, 2014   No comments

Over 60% of Tunisians able to vote voted; 56% of them voted for Beji Caid Essebsi, 44% voted for Mohammed Mouncef Marzouki. 

Essebsi, 88, appeared before 2,000 supporters who gathered outside his campaign headquarters in the capital Tunis shouting “Long live Tunisia!” and thanked the voters.

“Tunisia needs all its children. We must work hand in hand,” he said as supporters cheered.

Marzouki dismissed the declaration as unfounded and refused to concede defeat. His camp said the result was too close to call and accused the Essebsi of election “violations”.

It is the first time Tunisians have freely elected their president since independence from France in 1956.