During a ceremony on Wednesday at the presidential palace, Tunisian President Kais Saied ratified an Authoritarian constitution that will provide him uncheckered power.
After a time of “darkness” and “injustice” for Tunisia, Saied said the authoritarian constitution “fixed the trajectory of the revolution and the course of history.”
To “preserve the constitution, and to protect the rights and freedoms that come with the new constitution,” he stated, “a new electoral legislation will be drafted and a constitutional court established soon.
On July 25, 2017, Tunisia held a vote on a new constitution, one year after Saied ousted the country’s government and suspended the legislature in what was widely referred to as a “coup.”
The president and his allies claimed that for Tunisia to be saved from years of stagnation and political gridlock, the political system needed to alter.
However, many claim that Tunisia is headed back toward the dictatorship it had before the 2011 revolution as a result of the new constitution.
The president is in charge of the army, which also grants him the authority to form a cabinet without seeking parliamentary permission.
The referendum’s final results were made public by Tunisia’s electoral commission on Tuesday, indicating a 94.6 percent approval rating and a 30.5 percent turnout.
This was the lowest turnout for a Tunisian election since the 2011 revolution, and opposition parties had urged citizens to boycott the referendum.