Tunisia’s President Kais Saied published on Friday in the official gazette a new draft of the proposed constitution that included minor amendments and did not affect his power.
The amendments of 46 chapters of the proposed constitution are mostly minor and formal, and come amid sharp criticism of a draft proposed by the president on June 30, with some considering it paving the way for a dictatorship.
The president’s supporters say he is standing up to elite forces whose bungling and corruption have condemned Tunisia to a decade of political paralysis and economic stagnation.
In a letter published online he said there was no danger to Tunisians’ rights and freedoms.
“Everyone knows what Tunisia has suffered for decades, especially the last decade. They emptied state coffers. The poor got poorer, the corrupt got richer,” Said said, accusing critics of his constitution of “slanders, far from reality”.
Most political parties and civil society groups oppose his constitution, saying it was drawn up unilaterally and will lack legitimacy as Tunisians have less than four weeks to decide on it and there is no minimum rate of participation for it to pass.
The main journalists union joined the opponents of the constitution and said statement on Tuesday: “We warn of its danger..it does not respond to the principles of freedom of the press and expression”.
Freedom of speech and press has been a key gain for Tunisians following the 2011 revolution that toppled the late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Even the head of the committee Saied convened to prepare the first draft of his constitution, which he then rewrote, said this weekend that the president’s version was “dangerous and paves the way for a disgraceful dictatorial regime”.
Sadok Belaid, the committee head, said the version Saied had presented did not resemble the draft the committee had prepared.
