Tunisia’s President Announces High Committee To Rewrite Constitution

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied announced the formation of a so-called high committee to draft a constitution for the county, which he called a “new republic.” Saied made the announcement on Sunday, during a televised speech in honor of Eid al-Fitr. He said that “traitors and non-nationalists” will not serve on the committee, The New Arab reported.

The report noted that the new constitution could be completed in the “next few days.”

Saied last month dissolved the country’s parliament and then seized control of the country’s election commission. In July of last year, the president dismissed his government and seized a number of powers by granting himself executive authority in what critics have called a coup. In September 2021, he announced that he would rule by decree. A month later, he appointed a new prime minister, and then approved a new cabinet of political neophytes, coming from academia or who were civil servants, which he dissolved earlier this month. Saied wants to amend the 2014 constitution, likely overturning democratic principles introduced after the 2011 revolution which he says he will then submit to a popular referendum in July, ahead of the December elections.

Tunisia became a democracy in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring revolutions. Its democratic president and parliamentary form of government have experienced some difficulties. Saied was elected president in 2019.