Tunis: Tunisia’s President Kais Saied on Tuesday defended a draft constitution set for a referendum this month after the head of the drafting committee rejected a document he said could return the country to a dictatorship. could.
The new constitution is the centerpiece of Syed’s plan to remake the North African country’s political system, more than a decade after a pro-democracy insurgency sparked copycat rebellions across the region.
But Sadiq Belaid, the legal expert overseeing the draft of the new constitution, said the final version Syed published last week was “completely different” from his committee’s draft, and warned that some articles “could pave the way for authoritarian rule”. “
On Tuesday, Sayyid’s office published an open letter arguing that “this draft was built on what the Tunisian people followed from the beginning of the revolution (in late 2010) until the reformation of its path on July 25, 2021.” expressed.”
That was the day when Sayyed dismissed the government, suspended parliament and seized sweeping powers in moves, with opponents calling for a coup against the only democratic system that emerged from the Arab Spring uprisings.
Saeed wants a presidential system to replace the country’s 2014 constitution, which left a mixed presidential-parliamentary system often stalemate and rife with corruption. “This draft proposed to you reflects the spirit of the revolution, and does not in any way threaten rights or freedoms,” said Saeed’s letter.
He dismissed “slanderers and pretenders” that the document could return the country to tyranny, saying he had not read it in detail.
He urged Tunisians to vote to approve the new draft in a vote on July 25, the first anniversary of their seizing power.
“Say yes so that the state does not fail, so the goals of the revolution are achieved, so there will be no misery, terrorism, hunger, injustice and suffering,” he wrote.
wheat crisis
Tunisian farmers survey a sea of golden wheat while waving Mondher Mathali and twirling their combine harvester, a 1976 roaring animal that they fear may break at any moment.
As the Ukraine war has raised global grain prices, import-dependent Tunisia has announced a push to grow all of its durum wheat, which is the basis for local staples such as couscous and pasta.
Small North African countries, like their neighbors, are desperate to prevent food shortages and social unrest – but for farmers in the sun-baked plains north of Tunis, even the basics are problematic .
“I would love to buy a new combine harvester, but I could do it only with the help of the government,” said Mathali, 65. He believes that his old machine ruins about a third of the crop. With spare parts hard to find, he fears that a single breakdown could cost him his entire harvest.
But even a second-hand replacement would cost him an unimaginable amount: $150,000.
“Our production and even quality will probably go up by 50 per cent, even 90 per cent”, he said. “But our situation is getting worse and the state is not helping us.”
Tunisia’s wheat production has suffered from years of drought and a decade of political instability, with 10 governments since the country’s 2011 revolution.