Tunisia, Tunis, June 30, 2022 (AFP) – Tunisian President Kais Saied on Thursday released a draft constitution that will be put to a referendum on July 25, giving the head of state broad powers and marking a radical break with the current parliamentary system. .
The text published in the Official Gazette affirms the transition of the regime to the presidency by foreseeing that “the President shall exercise his executive power with the help of a government led by a government head of his choice”. This government should not be presented to Parliament to gain its trust.
According to the project, the president will also be the supreme head of the Armed Forces, determine general government policy and pass laws. In addition, he will be able to present the legislative texts to the Parliament, which should be analyzed first.
The proposal also significantly reduces the role and power of the Parliament and provides for the creation of a second assembly, the National Assembly of the Regions.
The draft constitution does not refer to Islam as the “religion of the state,” as Sadok Belaid, the lawyer who chaired the commission responsible for drafting the text, previously told AFP. With this, he is trying to fight Islamist-inspired parties like Ennahdha, President Saied’s main rival.
The new Constitution should replace 2014, which established a hybrid system that caused repeated conflicts between the Executive and Legislative powers. But the opposition and human rights organizations accuse Saied of wanting to impose a text that suits his needs.
Elected in 2019 after months of political stagnation, Saied came to full power on 25 July 2021, sacking the prime minister and suspending the Ennahdha-dominated Parliament, which shook the young democracy, birthplace of the Arab Spring.
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source: Noticias
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