The electoral commission said that Tunisia had adopted a new constitution that gives President Kais Saied unrestricted power following a thinly attended referendum in which voters largely supported the text.
Rivals of Saied claimed the referendum he organised on Monday was invalid and accused the Saied-controlled electoral body of “fraud.”
According to preliminary findings, the electoral commission “announces the ratification of the new draft constitution for the Republic of Tunisia,” with 94.6 percent of valid ballots cast and a turnout of 30.5 percent, Farouk Bouasker, the director of the commission, told journalists on Tuesday evening.
A year ago on Monday, the president abruptly dismissed the government and suspended the legislature, dealing a severe blow to the only democracy to have survived the 2011 Arab Spring upheavals.
His actions alarmed some Tunisians who feared a return to authoritarianism, but they were welcomed by others who were tired of the country’s high unemployment and inflation rates, political corruption, and unsatisfactory system.
There had been little question that the “yes” campaign would win, and an exit survey conducted by the unbiased polling organisation Sigma Conseil confirmed this.
The majority of Saied’s competitors demanded a boycott, and while participation was low, it was greater than the single figures most people had anticipated.
“Tunisia has entered a new phase,” Saied told celebrating supporters after polling closed.
“What the Tunisian people did… is a lesson to the world, and a lesson to history on a scale that the lessons of history are measured on,” he said.
The US State Department, however, stated on Tuesday that it was “concern[ed] that the new constitution contains weakened checks and balances that could threaten the preservation of human rights and basic freedoms.”
The National Salvation Front opposition coalition in Tunisia has charged the electoral commission with faking turnout rates.