Preliminary results show that Tunisians have voted in favor of a new constitution in a referendum, according to the chairman of the country’s electoral commission.
A 94.6 percent turnout in the referendum was reported by the president of the Independent High Authority for Elections, Farouk Bouasker “Only 5.4 percent of those polled responded “no.” According to unofficial results, turnout was only 27.54 percent.
It is estimated that 2,830,094 of the 9,278,541 registered voters in the country participated. Tunisian Association for Integrity and Democracy (ATID) announced that they had documented various breaches during the referendum.
According to ATID President Muaz al-Hamruni, who spoke at a news conference, “We have recorded various election violations such as the blocking of observers, the presence of age discrimination in the voter lists, and the lack of attention to the secrecy of voting at some polling centers.”
According to a statement from the Independent High Authority for Elections, the suspected infractions will be examined by the authority. The new constitution, which will replace the 2014 constitution, contains 142 sections that grant the president wide-ranging powers.
The controversial reaffirmation of Islam as Tunisia’s state religion, which arose during the constitution’s development, was omitted from the new document. In its place, it was stated that “The Islamic nation includes Tunisia.
The president will be authorized to appoint the head and members of the cabinet in the new constitution, which does not include any system to control the president. In addition to the Tunisian People’s Legislature, a second assembly dubbed the “Regional and Local National Council” will be founded.
Since President Kais Saied dismissed the administration and suspension of parliament on July 25, 2021, Tunisia has been mired in political turmoil.
