By John Ikani
Tunisians have begun voting on whether to accept a new constitution put forward by President Kais Saied.
Voting on the new constitution – which would entrench significant new powers on Tunisia’s presidency – is being held on the first anniversary of Kais Saied’s ousting of an elected parliament, after which he established emergency rule and began governing by fiat.
Under Saied’s own rules for the referendum, no minimum level of participation is needed to approve the new constitution.
They only stipulate it will come into effect once the final results are published and do not say, what happens if voters reject it.
However, while nearly all major political parties and civil society organizations have denounced his unilateral approach to rewriting the constitution and the legitimacy of the referendum, they have failed to build a united front.
The new constitution allows Saied to continue to rule by decree until legislative elections are held in December
The previous constitution, adopted in 2014, gave incontestable rights and liberties to citizens and especially to minorities.
It separated the powers of the president, government and parliament, with institutions to watch over with checks and balances
Under the old constitution, the judiciary was independent.
The new constitution puts executive, legislative and judicial powers in the hands of the president.
People are able to vote until 10pm Tunis time (21:00 GMT) with vote-counting running through the night, and results expected to be announced early morning on Tuesday.
