Tunisia: from president’s power grab to referendum

• Tunisia is set to approve a new constitution.
• Saied has steadily tightened his grip on power.
• The new constitution is giving vastly more powers to the president.

Tunisia is set to approve a new constitution concentrating nearly all powers in the office of Kais Saied following a controversial referendum, nearly three years into his presidency.

Saied has steadily tightened his grip on power since a dramatic power grab last July. A timeline:

A protracted deadlock grips the North African country in 2020 and the first half of 2021.

Saied, elected in 2019, is at loggerheads with prime minister Hichem Mechichi and parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party and the stalemate cripples management of the Covid pandemic.

On July 25, 2021, thousands of Tunisians join protest marches against the Ennahdha-backed government as recorded Covid deaths surge to one of the highest rates per capita in the world.

That night Saied suspends parliament for 30 days, surrounding it with tanks, and dismisses Mechichi, citing an article in the 2014 constitution he says allows him to take “exceptional measures” to protect the state.

Saied says he will pick a new premier and remove immunity from lawmakers, whom he accuses of corruption. He warns that armed opposition will face a “rain of bullets”.

Ennahdha slams Saied’s actions as a “coup d’etat”.

On August 24, Saied extends his suspension of parliament.

On September 22, he assumes powers that effectively allow him to rule by decree.

Three days later, around 20 human rights groups condemn his actions and warn of a slide back towards authoritarianism.

On September 26, some 2,000 people protest in Tunis against Saied’s “coup”.

On September 29, Saied names little-known geologist Najla Bouden as the Arab world’s first-ever female prime minister.

On October 10, at least 6,000 people demonstrate in Tunis against the president, a week after some 10,000 Saied supporters turned out in force across the country.

The following day Bouden forms a government, but Saied himself heads the cabinet.

On December 13, Saied presents a roadmap, calling for a referendum in July 2022 on constitutional reforms, and says parliament will remain suspended until new elections he sets for December 2022.

On February 5, 2022, Saied dissolves top independent judicial watchdog the Supreme Judicial Council (CSM), accusing it of bias and replacing it with a body under his own control.

Saied announces he is dissolving parliament on March 30, hours after lawmakers held a plenary session online and passed a bill against his “exceptional measures”.

On April 22, Saied assigns himself the power to appoint the head of the electoral commission.

On June 2, he sacks 57 judges accused of corruption and other crimes, a day after passing a new law strengthening his grip on the courts.

The text of a new constitution giving vastly more powers to the president is officially published on June 30.

Sadeq Belaid, the legal expert who oversaw the drafting of the new constitution submitted to Saied, says the version Saied published has been changed in a way that could lead to a dictatorship.

In early July, Ennahdha urges its supporters to boycott a referendum on the draft, saying it would “lead to a repressive, authoritarian regime”.

Saied publishes a slightly amended draft but does little to address such concerns.

On July 25, Tunisians vote on the constitution.

Saied tells celebrating supporters after polls closed: “Tunisia has entered a new phase.”

On July 26, Saied’s rivals accuse the electoral board of “fraud” and say Saied’s referendum has failed.

The electoral commission says that evening that the “yes” vote makes up 96.4 percent of valid ballots, adding that the results are not yet final.

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