Tunisians began voting Monday on a new constitution that would grant President Kais Saied significant powers, a move that the political opposition and activists say pushes the North African country toward one-man rule a decade after it emerged from the Arab Spring as the only democracy in the region.
Mr. Saied presented a draft version of a new constitution in late June. If adopted, it would grant the president the ability to extend his tenure beyond the current limit of two presidential terms. It would also increase the powers of the presidency and curtail those of the parliament, which, under the existing constitution, check the executive’s reach.
Many Tunisians say they will boycott the vote, which doesn’t have a minimum participation rate. In recent days, hundreds of people took to the streets to protest the new draft constitution and Mr. Saied’s rule. Police used pepper spray and sticks to disperse a crowd trying to march toward the Interior Ministry and arrested nine people Friday.
“It’s a fake referendum,” said Sarra Salah, an unemployed woman who marched Saturday. “I think after Monday, people should keep fighting to overthrow Kais Saied’s regime.”
Tunisians ousted former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, an autocrat who ruled the country for more than two decades, in 2011. He died in exile in 2019. The country held its first parliamentary elections in 2014 and, in 2019, Mr. Saied won the presidency in a landslide victory.
But the country’s hard-won democratic gains have appeared increasingly shaky as the president in July 2021 froze parliament and fired the prime minister, arguing that such measures were justified as the country faced a threatening situation following violent protests over the economy and Covid-19 pandemic. He began ruling by decree and later appointed a new prime minister and fired dozens of judges, undermining what was once an independent judiciary.
The International Commission of Jurists, an advocacy group in Geneva, said last week that Mr. Saied’s draft constitution removes essential checks on presidential powers and “would return Tunisia to an autocratic constitutional order.”
Tunisia’s President Kais Saied, in a black tie, with his wife, after voting at a polling station on Monday.
Photo: mohamed messara/Shutterstock
A report by Amnesty International said that, if adopted, “[the constitution] would weaken judicial independence, grant the president the right to declare an open-ended state of emergency and rule unchecked.”
Tunisia’s constitution was established in 2014. It set up a government based on a parliamentary system and was hashed out after nationwide dialogue.
Mr. Saied’s draft constitution by contrast was drafted quickly—in about a month—and largely without the consultation of civil society organizations and political parties.
It allows the president to extend his term indefinitely in case of imminent danger, which was the same excuse he used last year to seize power. Parliament doesn’t get to impeach the president.
The publication of the new draft constitution late last month triggered a wave of criticism from opposition figures, Tunisian civil society groups and international rights organizations. Sadok Belaid, a former law professor who led the drafting committee, said the draft bore little resemblance to the version his committee had submitted and that, if passed, could result in “a disgraceful dictatorial regime.”
Shortly afterward, Mr. Saied said the draft contained errors, including failing to specify how parliament would be elected. Revisions from him on July 8 did little to appease concerns of his critics.
Many ordinary Tunisians have given up on participating in politics, which they say has done little to alleviate the country’s economic problems. Only about half a million, out of 11.8 million Tunisians, participated in an online consultation that Mr. Saied organized this January to March to seek public opinions for a new constitution.
Political groups, such as the Islamist party Ennahda, have helped organize demonstrations and called for people to make their discontent known by sitting out the vote. Ennahda is Mr. Saied’s main opposition.
But Fadhel Abdelkefi, chairman of a small, liberal political party called Afek Tounes, said his party’s members plan to vote “no.”
He said political parties such as his risked being forced to disband should the constitution pass and paved the way for Mr. Saied to implement a new election code this fall.
“It’s an unfair referendum” but “we will stay fighting,” said Mr. Abdelkefi.
A date for the vote’s result hasn’t been announced, but could be declared as early as Tuesday.
—Noureddine Ahmed contributed to this article.
Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
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