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A new constitution should save the Tunisian revolution. In doing so, it causes a real counter-revolution.
Tunisia is in a deep crisis. The Tunisian economy has still not recovered from the aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis. During the pandemic, important sectors of the economy such as tourism have collapsed.
The Tunisian dinar is getting weaker and life is getting more and more expensive for the population. Food is becoming scarce in many areas of the country: flour, sugar, wheat, rice and oil.
Economic reforms would be necessary – the state would have to fight the corruption that is undermining all areas of state and economy. But politics is blocked, politicians deal with themselves and don’t really tackle the problems.
A year ago, President Kais Saied declared a state of emergency. He dismissed the government, suspended parliament and has ruled by decree ever since.
Constitution to strengthen power of the President
With a new constitution, Saied now wants to make the emergency regime the norm. All power should be concentrated in the President. Parliament is weakened.
In the future, supervisory authorities will be appointed by the President – and even the members of the Constitutional Court. This makes the supreme supervisory authority in the country dependent on the President.
Legend:
There have been protests in many places against Saied’s constitutional changes.
key stone
Saied says the revolutionary process has been hampered by deadlocks in parliament and corruption at all levels. His new constitution wants to get the revolution going again.
In fact, however, he is setting a new course. The new constitution creates a concentration of power in a single person, as Tunisia already knew before the revolution. It doesn’t take a big step towards authoritarian rule.
Saied blames Ennahda for abuses
The President says he wants to overthrow the Islamist Ennahda. It is the only party that has played a key role in government without interruption since the revolution.
Saied therefore gives her the main responsibility for the abuses in Tunisia. They have infiltrated society, business and administration through a corruption network.
Legend:
Tunisian President Kais Saied at a meeting with Emmanuel Macron in Paris in 2020.
Reuters
Even if Saied Ennahda is pushing Ennahda out of the political game: In socio-political terms, he represents ideas similar to those of the Islamists. The text, which will be voted on in Tunisia on Monday, re-declares the goals of Islam to be the guidelines for the state.
This basically means Islamic law, Sharia, which Ennahda has always wanted. After the revolution, they failed with this demand in the Constituent Assembly due to resistance from the liberals.
Only after lengthy negotiations did the conflicting parties agree on compromises: the 2014 constitution declared freedom of belief and equal rights for women and men. This is in line with what Tunisia had been doing since independence. Islam is officially the state religion. But in fact there is a clear separation of religion and state.
President Saied now wants to change that: His constitution actually means a counter-revolution for Tunisia.