Published On 25 Jul 202225 Jul 2022
Tunis, Tunisia – Tunisians are voting in a referendum on Monday to decide on whether to adopt a new constitution President Kais Saied has pushed for, which, if adopted, will change the country from its current hybrid parliamentary democracy to one giving the president sweeping powers.
Saied’s supporters believe that his new constitution will simplify the system of government and diminish the political chaos of the last year.
His detractors fear that concentrating executive, legislative and judicial powers in the hands of one person is the road back to one-man rule, and many of them are planning to boycott the referendum.
Tunisia has been hailed as the only democratic republic in the Arab world.
On January 14, 2011, Tunisia deposed longtime leader President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, bringing an end to years of strongman rule and oppression.
But while free and fair elections followed and the introduction of a new constitution in 2014 that included many rights, the past few years have seen the country lurching between several crises, and ongoing economic difficulties have left many Tunisians feeling frustrated.
What problems has Tunisia faced?
- Tunisia has dealt with serious problems from significant “terrorist” attacks, the recruitment of young people to the ISIL (ISIS) group (ISIS) group, mass unemployment, corruption, and an economic crisis.
- Many of the problems have been placed on the country’s political parties, particularly Ennahdha, which has emerged from all the parliamentary elections held since 2011 with the most votes. Formerly associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, Ennahdha now describes itself as a “Muslim Democrat” party. Opponents say the party has not done enough to bring about the change promised in the 2011 revolution, but Ennahdha says that it has actively worked together with other parties in an attempt to be inclusive.
- In September 2019, Tunisia held parliamentary and presidential elections but they were mired in controversy, with the imprisonment of presidential candidate Nabil Karoui and accusations of political manipulation via social media.
- On October 14, 2019, Kais Saied, a retired university lecturer who ran as an independent, won a landslide victory to become president. He is a populist who is seen by many as an effective way to stop what they regard as a “corrupt” political elite but a growing opposition worries about the effect he is having on Tunisia’s democracy and has called for a boycott of Monday’s vote.
