More than 92% of voters in the republican referendum supported the adoption of the new Constitution of Tunisia. The results of the exit poll, quoted by Mosaique FM on Tuesday, show this.
According to Sigma Conseil, the Tunisian public opinion research center, 92.3% of citizens voted to adopt the new constitution.
Hassen Zargouni, Director-General of Sigma Conseil, told the radio station that the turnout was 25 percent. The High Independent Electoral Commission of Tunisia calculated that 27.5% of voters took part in the vote.
The referendum on Tunisia's new draft constitution was held on Monday. Polling stations closed at 22:00 local time (24:00 Moscow time). The High Independent Electoral Commission is expected to release the results on July 26.
Draft of new constitution
On June 30, Tunisia's official newspaper published the text of the new constitution as drafted by the president, which, according to Sadok Belaid, head of the advisory committee for drafting the document, had "serious discrepancies" with the draft he had previously proposed. Belaid pointed to "unacceptable chapters" in the text that would allow the president to establish a "dictatorial regime." A number of political and public figures believe that Tunisian President Kais Saied excluded all provisions limiting the powers of the head of state from the constitution proposed by Sadok Belaid and weakened the role of parliament and the judiciary. In their view, "this negates the democratic achievements" won by Tunisians during the 2011 revolution.
Tunisia's president rejected these claims and said his version of the constitution did not violate human rights and freedoms. "The basic law is first and foremost a reflection of the spirit of the nation, it does not infringe on the rights and freedoms [of citizens] in any way," he said. Kais Saied called the referendum on the constitution "an opportunity to save the country" and urged Tunisians to approve his proposed version of the new basic law.
The draft of the new constitution grants the head of state greater powers - he is expected to be commander-in-chief of the armed forces, as well as head of the executive and will be able to appoint and dismiss the prime minister at his discretion, and will have the privileged right of legislative initiative.
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Based on materials from TASS