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Tunisia: Ennahdha calls for a boycott of the referendum on the Constitution

2022-07-07T13:25:03.940Z


The Tunisian Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party on Thursday (July 7th) called on its supporters to boycott the July 25th vote on a referendum that...


The Tunisian Islamist-inspired party Ennahdha on Thursday (July 7th) called on its supporters to boycott the July 25th vote on a referendum that significantly amends the Constitution.

The referendum "

is not in the interest of Tunisians

", said the movement's spokesman, Imed Khemeri, during a press conference in Tunis.

In his eyes, the constitutional reform project “

legitimizes the construction of an authoritarian and tyrannical regime

”.

He also denounced a “

tailor-made

” document which “

does not come from the people nor is it the fruit of national consultation

”.

“Opening the way to a dictatorial regime”

President Kais Saied, who has assumed full powers in Tunisia for a year, presented a draft Constitution at the beginning of July which establishes a presidential regime and grants broad powers to the Head of State, without any real safeguards.

The project marks a radical break with the rather parliamentary system in place since 2014, a source however of recurring conflicts between the executive and legislative branches.

The draft constitution was immediately repudiated by the jurist, Sadok Belaïd, who had been commissioned by the president to draft it.

He dissociated himself from the version presented by Kais Saied, criticizing a text that could “

open the way to a dictatorial regime

”.

On Tuesday, President Saied, also a lawyer by training, defended his amendments to the Constitution, saying they reflect "

what the Tunisian people have expressed since the Revolution (of 2011) until July 25, 2021 when it was back on the right path

”.

The Islamo-conservative Ennahdha party retains significant electoral weight, with approximately 9% of voting intentions in the event of legislative elections.

Since the fall of dictator Ben Ali in 2011 and the advent of democracy in Tunisia, the movement has governed the country virtually without interruption.

Read alsoTunisia: Kaïs Saïed accelerates his purge of the judicial system

The National Salvation Front, which apart from Ennahdha, brings together small political groups and associations, had already called for a boycott of the referendum at the start of the week.

Thirty NGOs, including the Tunisian journalists' union SNJT and the Tunisian Human Rights League, called on Thursday for a boycott of the ballot, denouncing a text "

written by a single person, without the participation of civil society or experts.

".

SEE ALSO -

"The judiciary is a function, not a power", assures the Tunisian president

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-07-07

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