Tunisians back new constitution but turnout just 25%: Exit poll
Referendum result, to be announced early on Tuesday, will determine whether Tunisia changes from a hybrid parliamentary system to a presidential one.
- Voters backed a new constitution giving President Kais Saied far greater powers with 92.3 percent voting “yes”, but turnout was just 25 percent, according to a Sigma Conseil exit poll issued by state TV.
- The figure comes as polling stations were due to close at 10pm local time (21:00 GMT) across the country.
- Voters backed a new constitution giving President Kais Saied far greater powers with 92.3 percent voting “yes”, but turnout was just 25 percent, according to a Sigma Conseil exit poll issued by state TV.
- The figure comes as polling stations were due to close at 10pm local time (21:00 GMT) across the country.
- Many are expected to boycott the vote in order not to legitimise a process they see as enabling a return to dictatorial rule in the country.
- Hundreds of people rallied in the capital Tunis on Friday and Saturday to protest against the draft constitution proposed by Saied.
- During one of the protests, on Friday, police arrested demonstrators as they headed towards the Ministry of Interior in the centre of Tunis to demand an end to the referendum process.
- July 25 marks a year since Saied sacked Tunisia’s government, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority, citing a national emergency in a move critics have called a coup.
- Two months later, he announced he would rule by decree and dismantled many of the country’s democratic state institutions, including the Supreme Judicial Council. In June, he fired dozens of judges, accusing them of corruption and “terrorism”, further consolidating his power.
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These were the updates on Monday, July 25:
Tunisians overwhelmingly back new constitution amid low turnout: Exit poll
Voters in a referendum in Tunisia overwhelmingly backed a new constitution giving President Kais Saied nearly total powers, an exit poll said.
The poll by Sigma Conseil said 92.3 percent of voters in the referendum supported the new constitution, which, with no minimum participation rate requirement, is now set to become law.
Exit poll shows turnout was 25 percent as voting comes to an end
Turnout in Tunisia’s referendum on a new constitution proposed by President Saied was 25 percent, an exit poll by market researcher Sigma Conseil has shown.
The figure came as polling stations closed at 10pm local time (21:00 GMT) across the country.
Vote counting will run through the night, and results are expected to be announced early morning on Tuesday.
The referendum was faced with a national boycott campaign, with many voters and opposition parties snubbing the vote in order not to legitimise a process they perceive as enabling a return to dictatorial rule.
Turnout for referendum reaches 21.85 percent, election authority says
According to Tunisia’s ISIE election authority, turnout is now up to 21.85 percent, and more than 1.9 million voters have voted in the referendum.
The update comes with less than an hour to go before polls are due to close.
Tunisian press syndicate says some journalists prevented from covering the vote
The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists said some reporters were prevented from covering the vote inside certain polling stations, while data regarding the progress of the ballot was withheld from others.
It also reported security obstacles and the harassment of Tunisian and foreign journalists who were attempting to cover the referendum.
Observers blocked from performing duties in several polling stations: Tunisian NGO
The Tunisian Association for Integrity and Democracy of Elections, a non-governmental organisation also known as ATIDE, said a number of observers were prevented from carrying out their mission of observing and reporting on the referendum in various voting centres.
In recommendations published on its official Facebook page, ATIDE urged the election commission to quickly intervene and validate these observers’ accreditation certificates, and allow them to perform their supervisory role.
Opposition parties accuse Saied of breaching electoral silence
Five opposition parties have accused President Saied of breaching the rule of electoral silence by attacking his opponents while voting was still taking place.
In a joint statement, the five parties affiliated with a national campaign to boycott the referendum criticised the president’s speech, which he delivered earlier on Monday, describing it as propaganda.
The parties also criticised the electoral commission – accusing it of remaining silent on reports of violations – which they say is proof that the body lacks real independence.
Voter turnout up to 13.6 percent: Election authority
According to Tunisia’s ISIE election authority, turnout for the referendum is now up to 13.6 percent.
In the first round of Tunisia’s 2019 parliamentary elections, a voter turnout of 45.02 percent was reported.
Interest in voting has fallen in Tunisia, which recorded 62.9 percent voter turnout in 2014 during the country’s first legislative elections following the Arab Spring protests.
Additional reporting by Elizia Volkmann in Tunis.
Empty polling stations, packed beaches in Tunis
The beaches are packed in Tunis; some say they will vote later, and others say they will not vote at all.
Mohamed Amine Mehjri, 23, and his friend and co-worker Malek Balloumi, are adamant they will not vote. They work in a newly revamped beach café in the chic beach suburb of La Marsa. Balloumi is more interested in showing off his barista skills than discussing politics.
Mehjri told Al Jazeera that he does not believe voting in Tunisia changes anything.
“It is not like Europe here, there is no real democracy in Tunisia. I want a real democracy but I don’t see it here. Everything is bad here, [main opposition] Ennadha is bad and so is [President] Kais Saied is too.”
Reporting by Elizia Volkmann in Tunis.
Heavy security presence, police and army deployed
There is a heavy security presence across the country – police, the army, and a counterterrorism unit have been deployed.
There are more than 5,000 local observers and more than 120 international observers involved in the referendum. Many international observers say they have been prevented from getting into the polling stations, which raises questions about security and also the transparency of the voting system.
Experts say the turnout, which currently stands at 12 percent, is going to be a key issue for both President Saied and the opposition in this referendum as it’s being seen as a vote of confidence in the president.
Polls opened at 6am (05:00 GMT) and are expected to close by 10pm local time in Tunis.
Reporting by Resul Serdar in Tunis.
Tunisians worry new constitution will consolidate power in one person’s hands
Many Tunisians are concerned that the new constitution will consolidate executive, legislative and judicial powers in the hands of just one person, the president.
The opposition says this constitution will take Tunisia back to a “dictatorship”.
Kais Saied’s supporters are keen for this constitution to be implemented and are expecting him to make radical changes to improve the country, which is still embroiled in a terrible economic crisis
Reporting by Elizia Volkmann in Tunis.
New constitution shows Tunisia moving towards ‘populist authoritarianism’: Analyst
The new constitution is a sign that Tunisia may be moving towards “populist authoritarianism” because “the situation has not gone well in the last decade in Tunis”, according to Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst.
“It has not gone well in much of the Arab Spring countries,” Bishara said, referencing several factors.
These include the “negative role of the military; the strength of the old regime and its relationship with reactionary forces in the region; the social polarisation between secular and religious [sectors of society]; as well as the weakness of the new political order and the new political parties that emerged.”
These new parties have not been able to “put public order – public good – ahead of their own narrow interests,” Bishara added.
Tunisia’s political changes compound deepening economic crisis
While Tunisia’s president focuses on changing the constitution, his critics say he has failed to tackle the country’s economic problems.
Official figures show the inflation rate in Tunisia above 8 percent, but it feels higher for many families struggling to make ends meet.
With a fifth of the workforce unemployed and poverty levels rising above what they were before the Arab Spring, soaring to new highs, Tunisia is again at a turning point.
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar reports from Tunis on the impacts of the economic crisis.
Turnout for referendum reaches 12 percent, says election authority
According to Tunisia’s ISIE election authority, turnout is now up to 12 percent, and over a million Tunisians have voted in the referendum.
Many of the voters Al Jazeera saw and spoke to have been supporters of President Kais Saied.
“I know this president, he loves the people, he’s a good man and a gentleman,” said Ismail Raif, a 62-year-old football coach.
However, when asked whether he had actually read the constitution, Raif said “no”.
Families and the younger generations are currently enjoying the public holiday, with many spending the long weekend at the beach or staying out of the scorching midday heat.
Authorities hope that some of them will come to vote when the sun goes down, with polls closing at 10pm local time (21:00 GMT).
Reporting by Elizia Volkmann in Tunis.
Tunisia’s democracy since the Arab Spring: Timeline of key events
Tunisians are voting for a new constitution, one year after President Kais Saied sacked the government and froze parliament in one of Tunisia’s biggest political crises since the 2011 revolution that introduced democracy.
Here is a timeline of Tunisia’s bumpy decade of democracy and the path to the current political crisis.
Read more here.
Opponents of Tunisia’s new referendum divided before vote
Ahead of the constitutional referendum, opponents of Tunisia’s President Kais Saied were divided on the best line of action to take on the new constitution.
Some said they should take advantage of the general lack of support for the document and vote “no”, while others thought that the referendum should be boycotted, so as not to legitimise the process.
Read more here.
Participants in referendum hope for a better future
Mongia Aounallah, a 62-year-old retiree, said she hoped the referendum would lead to “a better life for our children’s children”.
“The schools are a catastrophe,” she said. “The situation is catastrophic. Everything is catastrophic.”
Day labourer Ridha Nefzi agreed.
“I came to vote to change the situation of the country,” the 43-year-old said.
“The country’s run into a brick wall. But today we turn a new page.”
Critics warn new constitution contains ‘considerable risks, shortcomings’
The drafting and organisation of Tunisia’s constitutional referendum have been marred by controversy, says law professor.
Sadok Belaid, a constitutional law specialist President Kais Saied brought in to head the committee drafting the new constitution, denounced the result – which was extensively revised by the president – saying it “contains considerable risks and shortcomings” that could pave the way for “a disgraceful dictatorial regime.”
Saied has urged Tunisians to back the proposal, despite electoral standards requiring that he remain neutral.
Saied says low turnout will not affect validity of referendum
President Kais Saied has said that a low turnout would not affect the validity of the referendum.
“You know, about the turnout of elections in other countries – I will not mention their names – but the turnout there is low … this is a call today to Tunisians throughout the world and crucially in Tunisia, to partake in history, to create a new history.”
He reiterated that the new constitution protects freedoms and democracy in Tunisia.
“There is no dictatorship, as I said in the explanatory document on rights and freedoms: this constitution protects (such freedoms), and the revolution is defended by people who stand up to those who undermine it.”
Why is Tunisia’s new proposed constitution so controversial?
Tunisians are voting in a referendum to decide on whether to adopt a new constitution President Kais Saied has pushed for, which, if adopted, will change the country from its current hybrid parliamentary democracy to one giving the president sweeping powers.
Saied’s supporters believe that his new constitution will simplify the system of government and diminish the political chaos of the last year.
His detractors fear that concentrating executive, legislative and judicial powers in the hands of one person is the road back to one-man rule, and many of them are planning to boycott the referendum.
Read more here.
Saied encourages voters to take part in ‘historic choice’
Speaking after voting got under way, President Kais Saied told journalists that Tunisians faced a “historic choice”.
“Together we are founding a new republic based on genuine freedom, justice and national dignity,” he said.
He also accused unnamed rivals of distributing money to persuade people not to vote, without giving evidence.
“We will not let Tunisia fall prey to those who are stalking it, from inside and out,” he said.
Turnout for the vote will be seen as a test of Saied’s popularity after a year of increasingly tight one-man rule.
What has happened since the Tunisian revolution?
Critics of Tunisia’s proposed constitution say it would put power back into the hands of an authoritarian president.
As Tunisians vote on the changes, here is a quick reminder of what has happened there in the 11 years since the revolution.
Number of voters remains thin across capital, Tunis
A few early birds were queueing early this morning ready to cast their votes in the referendum.
Most were, like President Kais Saied, of the older generation.
While many in Tunisia have shown little enthusiasm for the referendum, these retirees told Al Jazeera that they were voting to support Saied and his constitution.
“I advise people to come to vote because I want a better future for our children,” said Mohammed Ali Chabbouh.
The stream of voters has remained thin. Today is also a public holiday celebrating another referendum when Tunisians voted to end the monarchy back in 1957.Reporting by Elizia Volkmann in Tunis
New constitution to concentrate power in president’s hands
Tunisian political analyst Tarek Kahlaoui has said that President Kais Saied’s introduction of a new constitution was always part of his political project to create a presidential system.
“The political system will move to a mainly presidential one where the president is the executive power,” said Kahlaoui.
“Even the prime minister will be chosen by the president regardless of legislative elections. This is a high concentration of power within the president’s hands,” he added.
Who are President Kais Saied’s supporters?
With many opponents of Tunisia’s proposed new constitution unlikely to vote in Monday’s referendum on whether to approve the document, the path is open for supporters of the country’s President Kais Saied, to vote “yes”, and make one of the biggest changes to the country since its revolution in 2011.
While Saied was criticised by the international community and his internal opponents, many Tunisians, blaming the country’s economic decline on the political elite, rejoiced when he sacked the government and froze parliament on July 25, 2021.
Read more here.
Protests in run up to constitutional referendum
Authorities cracked down on opponents in the run up to Monday’s vote on the Tunisian president’s newly proposed constitution.
Police arrested a leading gay rights campaigner at a protest on Friday, and violently shoved protesters marching in a vocal but peaceful demonstration as they headed towards the Ministry of Interior in the centre of Tunis to demand an end to the referendum process.
Read more here.