Tunisia’s President Confirms No State Religion In New Charter
On Tuesday, Tunisian President Kais Saied confirmed a draft constitution to be put to a referendum vote on July 25 will not enshrine Islam as the “religion of the state.”
Rather the next constitution will mention “belonging to an umma (community) which has Islam as its religion,” Saied told journalists.
He clarified “the umma and the state are two different things.”
The draft text is a key step in Saied’s drive to overhaul the Tunisian state, after sacking the government and seizing far-reaching powers last July.
Sadeq Belaid, the legal expert who headed the drafting committee, told AFP he would remove all reference to Islam from the new document in a challenge to Islamist parties.
Tunisia’s 2014 constitution, and its 1959 predecessor, defined the nation as “a free, independent and sovereign state. Islam is its religion and Arabic is its language.”
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