Tunisia’s President Announces Constitutional Referendum, Elections

Tunisian President Kais Saied has announced that next year he will hold a constitutional referendum followed by parliamentary elections. In a televised speech on Monday, Saied said that the referendum will be scheduled for July 25, which is Tunisia’s Republic Day, after a nationwide public consultation between January 1 and March 20 to gather suggestions for constitutional reforms. The parliamentary elections will be held by the end of 2022.

He said a committee of experts will be appointed to draft a new constitution ahead of the referendum.

Saied, who has been dismissive and critical of the country’s democratic constitution introduced in 2014, in July fired the government and suspended parliament, and assumed executive authority in a move his critics have called a coup. In September he announced that he would rule by decree, which allows him to run the country while suspending part of the country’s constitution. A new government was approved in October.