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Transcript/ScriptTUNISIA VOTE PREVIEW HEADLINE: Tunisia Standing at Crossroads With Constitutional Referendum TEASER: Critics fear draft charter could unravel country’s fledgling democracy PUBLISHED: 07/21/2022 at 8:03pm BYLINE: Lisa Bryant DATELINE: Tunis VIDEO EDITOR: PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, Tom Turco VIDEO SOURCE (S): AFP, VOA Original PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __ TRT: 2:57 VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO)) [[Exactly a year after Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, fired his government, suspended parliament and seized sweeping powers, its citizens vote Monday, July 25, on a draft constitution that critics fear could pull the fledgling Arab Spring democracy back to authoritarian rule. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Tunis.]]
A decade after Tunisians toppled their longtime dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben-ali, and unleashed the broader Arab Spring uprising, this North African country may be at another crossroads.
President Kais Saied says his proposed constitution—which would sharply strengthen presidential powers and weaken legislative ones—aims to return the country to the revolution’s pro-people principles.
But a kaleidoscope of rights groups and opposition parties argue otherwise. Many want Tunisians to boycott the referendum.
[[RADIO VERSION: Ridha Driss is a political adviser to the Ennahdha Party.]]
((Ridha Driss, Ennahdha Party — MALE IN FRENCH, VOA ORIGINAL))
“Mr. Kais Saied is trying to build a dictatorial regime, with all powers concentrated in his hands. The referendum’s outcome is a foregone conclusion.”
Even the head of an expert committee that drafted the charter earlier this year disavows the final version.
[[RADIO VERSION: Nedra Cherif says it’s nothing like the original.]]
((Nedra Cherif, Arab Politics Specialist — FEMALE IN ENGLISH - VOA ORIGINAL))
“For the president, the country has been ruled by a corrupted elite and he’s trying to bring it back on the right path. From the opposition perspective, what’s happening is a break to democracy and the democratic transition because the president has been preparing this constitution almost on his own.”
Many Tunisians are less worried about politics than about making ends meet, amid a stuttering economy and soaring joblessness and inflation —especially since the war in Ukraine. Experts say many don’t know the details of the draft constitution. ((Amin Arridi, Tunis Resident — MALE IN FRENCH— VOA Original)) “I’m voting for the constitution Monday because I love my president and my country.”
Tunisia’s first post-revolution constitution in 2014 took two years to draft after wide-ranging input. It established a mixed parliamentary-presidential system. But it wasn’t a silver bullet to the country’s economic and political problems.
Saied, who shot to power in 2019 as a political outsider, hasn’t been able to fix them either. Still, people cheered last year when he suspended the country’s bickering parliament. Even today, experts say he retains fading but sizable support.
((Nedra Cherif, Arab Politics Specialist — FEMALE IN ENGLISH - VOA ORIGINAL)) —
“Saied is the most popular person on the scene, and he’s largely more popular than any of those parties and all the opposition altogether…. today, I think most of the opposition parties have lost their credibility among the people.”
Experts predict voter turnout for Monday’s referendum will be low, but the constitution is likely to pass. Tunisians may be writing the next chapter of their history out of default …instead of revolt. ((Lisa Bryant, for VOA News, Tunis))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline) Tunis
Embargo DateJuly 21, 2022 18:41 EDT
Byline((Lisa Bryant, for VOA News, Tunis))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
