TUNIS (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Voting to approve the new constitution proposed by President Kais Saied has started among Tunisians. However, based on the number of voters in abroad polling places, low turnout is predicted.
Exact one year after Saied suspended parliament and dismissed the nation’s administration, polling places in Tunisia opened at 6 a.m. local time (05:00 GMT). Saied later decided to rule by decree.
Saied has come under fire from his rivals for what they claim to be a coup and an attempt to reinstate one-man rule. Saied claims that his changes were required to control a dishonest political elite.
Whether Tunisia switches to a presidential or a mixed parliamentary system will depend on the outcome of the referendum.
Many of the proposed constitution’s detractors have stated that they would boycott the vote rather than give it credibility.
On Friday, police cracked down on protesters in Tunis, where demonstrations were staged on both Friday and Saturday.
For Tunisians who live overseas, voting started on Saturday, but only in accordance with the numbers provided by the ISIE, Tunisia’s election authority. The turnout, which ranges between 4.5 to 6.5 percent, according to its president Farouk Bouasker, seems to be rather low.
In a news conference on Sunday, Bouasker asserted that 9.5 million people had registered to vote in the referendum, which, if accurate, is a substantial increase over the 2019 legislative elections, where out of the total population of 12 million, only 7 million had registered themselves to vote.
Voter turnout is expected to be between 10 and 15 percent, according to this year’s polls done earlier, which indicate a lack of enthusiasm for the referendum.
Additionally, according to Bouasker, there have been cases of voters showing up at the incorrect voting places and causing issues. He mentioned that a lady had been detained by the German police after harassing election workers at a polling place, raising the prospect that there may have been a plan to obstruct the referendum process.
Despite these issues, Herve Fonghouo, a spokesman for Nouvelle Perspective, a global organisation that monitors elections, told Al Jazeera that there were always going to be human errors and mistakes during elections, but Tunisia had greatly improved its running of elections over the years, with practice.
On July 25, Tunisia observes Tunisian Republic Day, a national holiday honouring the establishment of the country’s first republic in 1957 after a popular vote to end the monarchy.
Saied claims that the new constitution he has put forth would serve as the cornerstone of a new Tunisian republic.
The ISIE is aggressively pressuring individuals who are registered to vote to go to the polls, despite the fact that many people think the draft constitution would be adopted regardless of the outcome.
Saied can continue to rule by decree under the new constitution until the December elections for the legislature.
The previous constitution, which was enacted in 2014, guaranteed citizens’ rights and liberties, particularly to minorities.
It separated the government’s, the president’s and the parliament’s powers with those of institutions to monitor with checks and balances.
The new constitution gives the president control over the administrative, legislative, and judicial powers.
