Tunisia's President Kais Saied has approved a new version of the country's basic law, adopted as a result of a republican referendum, Tunis Afrique Presse reported on Thursday.
According to the report, he signed it and ordered the text of the document to be published, calling the event "a historic day." After the ceremony, Saied said that a new electoral law will be drafted soon, and that the Tunisian Constitutional Court will be regulated.
On Tuesday, the head of the High Independent Electoral Commission of Tunisia, Farouk Bouaskar, announced the final results of the referendum, following which the constitution officially came into force. Speaking at a press conference in the republic's capital, Bouaskar said that 94.6% of voters supported the basic law and 5.4% opposed it. Thus, the results of the vote remained virtually unchanged after consideration of appeals filed by opposition politicians and human rights groups. After the recount, the election commission annulled only 56,479 ballots.
Tunisia's new constitution was adopted in a republican referendum on July 25. According to calculations by the High Independent Electoral Commission, 2.83 million people took part in it and the turnout was 27.5%.
The amendments to the basic law grant the head of state more powers. In particular, he will become commander-in-chief of the armed forces, as well as head of the executive branch, and will be able to appoint and dismiss the prime minister at his discretion. The president will have the primary right of legislative initiative.
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Based on materials from TASS