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1/4/2022–|Last update: 1/4/202202:22 PM (Mecca)
Today, Friday, the Tunisian government published the results of an electronic referendum on the extent of citizens’ support for the transition to the presidential system, while the anti-terror police summoned the dissolved parliament speaker, Rashid Ghannouchi.
The results of the electronic consultation showed the participation of nearly half a million people, and the desire of 86.4% of the participants for the country to switch to a presidential system, instead of the existing parliamentary system.
This came according to data announced by the Tunisian Minister of Communication Technologies, Nizar Bennaji, while presenting a report on the results of the consultation with the country’s President, Kais Saied, according to a video clip published by the Tunisian presidency on Facebook.
Saeed had launched in mid-January the “electronic national consultation”, with the aim of “enhancing citizens’ participation in the democratic transition process”, and it continued until last March 20.
According to the data revealed by Bennaji, the number of participants in the consultation reached 534,915 people, without specifying the percentage of those entitled to vote, as it was available to every Tunisian over 16 years old.
It is noteworthy that the final number of Tunisians eligible to vote was 7,155 thousand, according to data from the Independent High Authority for Elections in 2019.
During his meeting with the Minister of Communication Technologies, President Saeed said that the consultation witnessed 120,000 electronic attacks and an attempt to thwart them from inside and outside, and they were confronted.
He added, “Today we have passed into a new stage in history, and those who believe that they can interpret the constitution according to their whims are delusional. Our role is to protect the state from division, and we will live up to the aspirations of our people.”
Saeed is heading to hold a referendum on the constitution next July.
The opposition refuses
For its part, opposition forces called for a boycott of the consultation, and said that Saeed was paving the way for it to make amendments, especially to the constitution, to enhance the collection of all powers in his hand.
Today, Friday, the head of the Tunisian Constitutional Party, Abir Moussa, announced her refusal to hold any referendum on amending the existing constitution, and said that this amendment was illegal, and pledged to confront it.
“This method adopted by (the president) exposes and exposes him, and confirms that many people mistook him,” Moussa told national radio.
“The president must respect the constitution, end exceptional measures and call for early elections,” she added.
In the same context, the leader of the Ennahda party and the speaker of the dissolved parliament, Rached Ghannouchi, said that the anti-terror police summoned him for investigation, following holding an online parliament session.
The summons came at noon on Friday, following the summons of other members of Parliament who supported or participated in an online session this week, to challenge Said’s earlier announcement of the suspension of Parliament.
It is noteworthy that Qais Saeed dissolved parliament last Wednesday, in response to a virtual session that canceled exceptional measures announced by the president last July, and the decision to dissolve parliament sparked widespread controversy among the political public opinion in the country.
Yesterday, Thursday, Parliament Speaker Rashid Ghannouchi expressed his rejection of Said’s decision to dissolve Parliament, stressing that the parliament will continue its activities to save the democracy of the country from which the “Arab Spring” wave started in the region.
In this regard, the US State Department said that Washington “always informs Tunisian officials that any reform process must be transparent and comprehensive.”
Senators condemned Said’s decision to dissolve parliament, and considered that the measure threatened the collapse of democratic institutions in Tunisia
