Tunisian President Kais Syed passed the referendum test with overwhelming approval for a draft new constitution that grants him broad powers that could threaten Tunisian fledgling democracy, but his opponents say low participation undermines the legitimacy of the process.
On Tuesday evening, the head of the Independent Supreme Electoral Authority, Farouk Boiscar, announced that the authorities had accepted the draft text of the new constitution for the Republic of Tunisia, which is being put to a referendum after 94.6 percent support.
Boiscard told reporters that the total number of participants in the referendum was 2,756,607 out of 9.3 million eligible to vote, and 2,607,848 people voted “yes” for the new constitution.
Said spoke of a “new stage” in a speech he gave to supporters in central Tunisia at night, stating that “what the people have done is a lesson, the Tunisians have creatively presented it to the world.”
He added: “Today we have crossed from one shore to another … from a shore of despair and disappointment to a shore of hope and work, and we will achieve this through the will of the people and the legislation that will be adopted. place for service.
On Tuesday, the National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition parties in Tunisia, accused the Electoral College of “rigging” the voter turnout in a constitutional referendum, saying President Kais Syed’s referendum “failed.”
After these assessments were announced, several hundred of the president’s supporters took to Habib Bourguiba Street at night to celebrate the “victory” and chanted “With our soul and blood we will redeem you Kais” while waving Tunisian flags.
The constitution provides that the president assumes executive power with the help of the prime minister, who appoints him and can dismiss him if he wants, without the participation of parliament in this.
The president, the supreme commander of the armed forces, also has the power to set the general policy of the state and determine its main directions, and his legal drafts have “priority consideration” by parliamentarians.
